


Memory Blooms

by AcidRainclouds



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Intrusive Thoughts, M/M, Mental Health Issues, POV Second Person, Reader is a literal witch, Reader is gender neutral, Reader's POV, Self-Worth Issues, Slow Burn, Snatcher is a delightful ass, Some Swearing, mentions of parental abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24198814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcidRainclouds/pseuds/AcidRainclouds
Summary: Magic is a gift. A gift with consequences, one of them being people who wish to take advantage of that gift. Regardless of whether it was intended for them or not.So wouldn't it be nice... to run away from it all?
Relationships: Hat Kid & Snatcher (A Hat in Time), Hat Kid (A Hat in Time) & Reader, Moonjumper (A Hat in Time) & Reader, Snatcher (A Hat in Time)/Reader, Snatcher’s Minions & Reader
Comments: 30
Kudos: 206





	1. Ah Peck

**Author's Note:**

> Ah hecc... this is my first time writing x reader stuff, so first chapter might be a bit long. Hope you like it!
> 
> All feedback and critique is much appreciated!

Stupid

If there was one word that could describe your decision making-process, it would be absolutely, completely, utterly _stupid_.

You didn’t have to be in this forest, you really didn’t. There were plenty of other options available in procuring the ingredients for what would no doubt be your most _ambitious_ project yet. Places like little antique shops, crystal lakes, overgrown ruins… little places with little bits of wonder.

But… you were looking for something specific. Something specific… and powerful to boot. Something that could only be found in places with a high concentration of magical energy, and this place fit the bill almost _too_ perfectly.

You tip-toed around a vicious circle of spiked roots poking out of the ground, glowing a fluorescent red. That was due to the detection enchantment you had placed on yourself. Revealing things that would otherwise be hidden to the naked eye, within a given radius, of course.

The supposed forest you were traveling through was known as “Subcon Forest”. A mysterious, dangerous, and somewhat nonsensical place that people routinely disappeared in. 

Of course, you didn’t just _waltz_ right in unprepared, no you weren’t _completely_ off your rocker. You had done a little research on the woods first, and prepared in any way that you could.

_Then_ you decided to waltz right in.

A soul-stealing demon, a ruined kingdom, talking nooses, shadow children, blah blah blah… Senseless stories more than likely made up to keep curious children out, and yet, much to your surprise, a lot of those rumors held some truth to them. You had actually passed a group of “talking nooses” not long ago and it was… _uncomfortable_ … to say the least. That curious part of you wondered though. Were they supposed to be similar to sirens? Like the ones that lure people in with sweet words only to bring about their victim’s brutal end? A bit silly how they went about the whole “luring in” part, but hey, “A” for effort, you guess. 

You let out a huff as you came across another trap. A net this time, hidden well underneath the dirt that, without your enchantment, would’ve totally caught you unawares. What the _hell_ could need this many traps?! And why place them in the _middle_ of the path?

You reached back, shuffling your hand in one of the side pockets of your backpack, and pulled out a silver wand. A coil of silver and white cedar wood ran up along the stem of the wand, coming up into an arrowhead tip at the very top. 

Magic, however, was finicky to use. It required intent, belief, and emotion, all of which had to be genuine all the way down. It had been this way for as long as you could remember, and yet, you would occasionally (often) have trouble with it. The charms you kept with you did help a little, but they could only take you so far.

You closed your eyes, raising your wand not unlike how a conductor would. 

“Something.” You whispered to yourself, the beginnings of a spell.

“Something hidden, that which surrounds _._ Show me thy truth…”

“And the lost let be found.”

A force exploded from the tip of your wand, traveling out and into the night like a shock-wave. One by one, red dots began to appear in the distance, a _lot_ of red dots. Littering your vision like stars in the night.

“You _gotta_ be kidding me…” You muttered. Seems like this was gonna take longer than you thought, unless…? 

You reached into your pocket, and pulled out a small, ornate, brass compass. It wasn’t a normal compass of course (honestly, it didn’t even have the four cardinal directions on it). Nope, instead, this compass would point in one direction, to the nearest, _strongest_ source of magic. At least, that was what it was _supposed_ to do. Instead, it decided spinning rapidly in a circle would be a better use of your time.

“Ugh! Are you serious?!” You growled, tapping the glass violently as if that would make it work.

You (softly) threw the trinket on the ground. Though, you felt a small twinge of empathy for the thing. It wasn’t the compass’s fault, you knew that. It was these dumb woods! It was dark, cold, and so chock full of magic that it could even confuse an enchanted _compass._ It was so _fascinating,_ yet so… annoying!

Was it really worth it…?

A sigh left your lips as you turned around to pick the compass back up.

It had to be.

“Guess I’ll be taking the scenic route, huh?” You mumbled, as if this entire trip wasn’t scenic enough.

You branched off from the main path, going into the shrouded depths of the woods where one could easily get lost. To be honest, being lost was more preferable than being found by... whatever or whoever set up all these traps, or worse, finding out who or what the traps were _for._

Maybe someone actually lived here? Maybe the traps were for that alleged soul-stealing demon? Something else? Who knew? You sure as peck didn’t.

Ugh, you were getting off track, focus [Y/N]! Just- _find_ the stupid ingredient, then get out! Simple as that!

Except it wasn’t that simple, was it?

You’d have to find it, brew it without _them_ finding out, then get out before they could notice anything was different. It wasn’t a fool-proof plan, but it was the only plan you had.

At least an hour or so of searching had gone by with no luck, a glance at your watch made your heart sink, 12:35 AM. Great. You shivered as a cold breeze ripped past your face. It was supposed to be summer, but apparently haunted forests don’t abide by the law of seasons and weather. At least you had the sense to bring a coat with you. 

Would it be even possible to find it here? That ingredient? Would it even survive? Could it? It was magical in nature, much like everything else here, but still organic, so its chances of survival were rather slim.

‘ _Maybe I should call it a night_ ’ you thought to yourself. You had gathered a few potentially useful ingredients; glowshrooms, lavender, black root, and some white quartz. But none of it was what you needed for your plan, disappointment settled in your chest. 

After all, you couldn’t exactly go home, you’d probably be banned from ever leaving the house if you went back now without a backup plan. You’d have to spend the night. 

You sat down at the base of a tree, leaning your head against it to look up at the sky. The sky, though draped in eternal night, was littered with millions of little twinkling stars. The lack of city lights providing a perfect view of space. Eerie forest or not, it was impressive. 

“I’d like to see even a third of this kinda view in town…” You yawned.

...

“Is it not as pretty in your town?” 

You swung your head in the direction of the voice. A small child sat on your left, gazing up at the stars just as you were. At least– you assumed it was a child. If children were strange shadow dolls with a single glowing yellow eye. 

“Well, are they?” They asked, turning to you. 

A shriek ripped from your throat as you shot up from your spot on the ground. Your eyes fixed on the doll-child as you backed away and the sound of your own heart pounding in your ears prevented you from forming any kind of coherent sentence. Mother of PECK that startled you, what the heck is that thing?!

You yelped in surprise as your heel bumped against something, causing you to trip and land backwards with a hard _thud_ into the grass. Rubbing the back of your head, you craned your head up to see what had put you off balance. 

“Ah peck.”

Sharp roots shot up from the ground, effectively confining you inside. The doll-child faded from view as the area around you morphed and shifted into a violet void, crashing thunder and lightning roaring above. Had you really backed up into a _trap?_ All that time and energy dedicated to avoiding the things, and you get caught because of a _doll. Stupid Stupid Stupi–_

**“** **_AHHHHAHAHAHAHAHA!! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!! ”_ **

A figure emerging from the ground knocked you out of your panicked thoughts. A shadow, with spiky, upturned hair around its neck and a Jack-o-lantern face. Glowing yellow eyes looked up to meet your own, before giving you a sadistic smile that sent shivers down your spine.

**"I can’t believe my measly** **_minion_ ** **managed to scare you!** **_That’s_ ** **gonna be embarrassing to read on the obituary! Ha! Even drowning in the swamp would’ve been** **_far_ ** **less embarrassing!**

Wow, okay. Five seconds into being trapped and he's rubbing it in? Also– _his_ minion?! What a obnoxious little–

Wait–

Oh. 

“OHHHHHHH…!” You broke eye contact with the phantom, absolutely forgetting the severity of your situation. “The traps… were set by _you!_ ”

The ghost's smile faltered a little. **“I–What?”**

You laughed in exasperation, gesturing towards him wildly. 

“The traps! I’ve been avoiding them for like, a good hour. And well– I’d heard–er– _read_ about you! At least, a version of you? I think? A–and I kinda thought that these traps were set by someone else, for you to step in! I’ll be honest I didn’t actually think you existed! I just kind of thought…” you trailed off, rambling about god knows what.

Only silence followed when you finished with your inane babbling. You nervously rubbed your arm, not the best first impression, and the fact that he was looking at you like you were a pair of socks received on his birthday didn’t do anything to help soothe your anxiety. Nice going.

**_“Riiiiiiight… okay well...“_ ** he scratched his fur, unsure of how to respond to.. all this. **“Let’s just– get this over with.”** He raised his fist into the air, that same twisted smile creeping back onto his face.

Pure adrenaline seized you as you realized what he was about to do. You looked around in panic, before spotting your wand on the ground a few paces from where you had fallen. You lunged for it and raised it straight into the air and practically screamed the words. Please work please work please work–

He slammed his fist down.

You peeked open an eye as silent relief filled your lungs. A dome of pure light surrounded you, protecting you from the death that was this ghost’s fist, which was about to turn you into mashed potatoes. You had been practicing that spell for _months_ and you could never get it to work, welp, better _now_ than later. 

Your assailant seemed taken aback for a moment, lifting his hand to see why you weren’t a pile of mush on the ground, then grinned.

**“Well well well!”** The ghost chuckled, moving his fist away, opting instead to clasp his hands together and look down on you in amusement. **“This one’s got some** **_fight_ ** **to it!”**

You let go of your hold on the shield, gasping for air as you fell to your knees. Like all things, magic had consequences. In this case; using certain spells and cantrips used up energy, and you overextended yourself. Though, in your experience, energy loss was the most _merciful_ of the consequences.

The ghost looked at you curiously, **“what’s the matter, kid? Am I that** **_breathtaking_ ** **? Ha!”**

“Ha... Funny.” You said with a dry laugh. 

This guy was seriously getting on your nerves. So why not give him a taste of his own medicine?

“So uh… we gonna fight then? I’ve never fought a pool noodle before, but I can try.” 

The irritation that burned in his eyes was delicious, that is, before he snorted and broke down into raucous laughter.

**_“AAAAHHHH HA HA HA HA HA! Ha ha ha! Ha…ha…oh man...”_ **He wiped an imaginary tear as he seemed to… shrink down?

**_“_ ** **You got** **_some nerve_ ** **thinking you can just skip ahead to a fight with** **_The Snatcher_ ** **!”** He floated around you, observing you. Seemingly unconcerned with your rebellious attitude. **“You gotta** **_earn_ ** **that fight.”**

“Earn a fight with a discount supervillain? I think I can do that.” You glared at him, which he returned with his own.

He chuckled, but not because of your witty comeback, **“Pretty gutsy of you to make jokes given your current** **_predicament_ ** **, kid.”** He zoomed in front of you to loom over you, his hands behind his back, face far too close for comfort. **“But luckily for you, your…** **_abilities_ ** **… have caught my attention.**

He leaned in closer, forcing you to lean back a little. God, has he never heard of a little concept called “ _personal space”?_

**“I’d like to make you a deal~”**

A deal huh? It was honestly a miracle that you were still alive to back-talk him, so maybe you could humor him a little.

“What kind?”

He smiled mischievously, **“now we’re talking.”**

Snatcher backed up (thank goodness) and snapped his fingers, a worn piece of paper and feather quill appeared in front of you in a cloud of purple smoke, which caused you to cough a little.

**“It’s a simple deal, really! Just do some things for me around my forest…”** He tapped a claw against the paper, **“and then I let you go~”**

Yeah, you didn’t believe that for a second. If there was one thing you knew about contracts, or deals with supernatural beings; it’s that they were always, _always_ gonna screw you over. Somehow, someway, without fail. 

“And _why,_ pray tell, would I agree to that?” You crossed your arms, tapping the end of your wand against your shoulder.

He flashed his claws, **“Because,”** he hissed, scraping slowly along the ground, leaving three, deep scratch marks. **“You don’t really have a choice.”**

He had a point. 

You looked over the contract, it looked old and worn, but legible. You were kind of expecting something long and meticulous, something that could easily hide unfair terms in microscopic text, but no. There it was, with the terms highlighted in big letters at the top:

  * _Find Subcon Village_


  * Clear the ice around the well


  * Find Casey



“Is… is that it?” You asked in disbelief. 

**“Did ya read the fine print?”** Snatcher hummed, still looking at you with that condescending gaze. 

“Yeah Yeah I get it, you hold my soul hostage and stuff–I was expecting that.”

**“Wait– you were?”**

“What I _mean_ is: is this all the stuff you want me to do? I was kind of expecting more.” 

He rolled his eyes in annoyance, **“** **_relax_ ** **kiddo, there’ll be** **_plenty_ ** **more work for you to do after you complete your initial contract. This is just a starter.”**

Ah, there it was, he was gonna rope you into more work, work that would probably risk your life in some way. You opened your mouth to protest, but thought better of it. Considering your situation, it probably wasn’t the best idea to try and argue or deny the contract. In a strange way, you guess that this was his way of showing mercy, not that he’d admit to that. 

You grabbed the quill and signed the paper, disappearing in another puff of purple smoke when you had finished. 

**“Finally! Damn you’re** **_much_ ** **more talkative than the last contractor. Anyway, I’ll just take this~”** He pointed a finger at you, instantly, a searing pain shot through your chest, and though your vision went blurry, you could see and feel smoke rising out of your mouth, coalescing into a bright, multi-color orb that rested in the palm of his hand. If you felt tired before, there was no way to describe how you felt now. It was like you were hungry, tired, achy, sad, and just hopeless all at the same time. You felt...

You felt empty.

Snatcher’s contemplative humming snapped you out of your daze, looking up at him curiously. He was examining what was most likely your soul. The very essence of your being, reduced to a pitiful ball that he turned this way and that in his hand. When he realized you were staring at him, he coughed awkwardly and stuffed your soul into… basically hammerspace. 

**“Right, anyway, you have your orders. So get to it!”**

You didn’t respond, just continued to stare.

**“Aw don’t look so down! If you complete all your chores, you’ll have your soul back real soon… Granted you survive till then! HAHAHAHAAAA”** He cackled, **“Anyway! I’m off! Smell you later!”** He gave a curt wave, and disappeared into the ground. The illusion that surrounded both of you fading away with him.

You stared at your wand, still in your hand, and gave it a small tap. The tip lit up like a flashlight. Good, at least you could still use your magic, but it felt weak. That was probably in part to how worn out you already were prior to getting your soul taken. 

And so; you set off, in search of this “Subcon Village” he had mentioned. Perhaps you could spend the night there, at least until you could sort out this whole mess that you got yourself into…

A minor setback, that’s all it was, and that’s all it was going to be.

Right?


	2. Hints

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 time let's go!
> 
> All feedback and critique is much appreciated!

Let’s analyze your options.

Fight him? Horrible choice, you tried that already. Steal back your soul? Yeah, if you could even find it.

Ask someone for help? 

No way. _No. Way._ Who would you ask!? _Them?_ As if _they_ would help you. You’d sooner die to the purple jack-o-lantern than show your face around there again. 

For now, the only choice you really had was to play along, he may be a spirit, but even spirits have their weaknesses. So until you could find out what _his_ was, you’d go along with his little _contract._ Then try to coax it out of him.

You brushed the dirt off your boots, leaving the thick of the forest behind you as you looked out to take in the sight of the one and only Subcon Village. It didn’t take that long to find, as it was conveniently placed in the middle of the forest, making it easy to spot from a distance. 

A river ran through the center of the village and the disjointed, crooked tree houses connected together with small tightropes and bridges gave the feeling of a true ghost town, but with a nostalgic, childish touch. You couldn’t decide if you found that endearing or creepy. 

The moonlight was rather dim in this section of the forest, but the illumination from the glowshrooms, tiny lucent flowers scattered in the grass, and even the off-glow of the dwellers basked the village in a mystical, magical radiance. 

That being said, with a sharp inhale, you proceeded forward.

The inhabitants didn’t seem to pay much mind to you as you walked by, even though you towered above them all like a redwood in an oak forest. You’d think that getting visitors here would be pretty uncommon, seems not.

You approached a group of subconites (that’s what Snatcher referred to them as anyways, aside from “minion”. It was better than calling them doll-children at least) lounging near what looked to be an old cemetery, one sitting on a rock with two others on either side of it. You scratched your arm nervously as they looked up at you.

“Um –hi there! I’m (Y/N), I’m–”

“The boss’s new toy, right?” The subconite sitting on the rock snickered.

You rolled your eyes, so that’s how this was gonna go... “ _Prisoner’s_ more like it.” You mumbled.

“Hehe, Yeah, for now.” the minion on the right chuckled. You cocked your head. For now?

The rock subconite smacked the right one upside the head, as the one on the left stepped forward. “You have to get rid of the ice around the well, right? Come on, I’ll show you where it is.” 

The subconite walked past you, ignoring your protests and questions about what the other meant. Eventually, you conceded and jogged to catch up with the little waddling figure. 

They led you silently out of the village, not even bothering to look back to make sure you were still following them. As you walked, you began to notice the air was getting… colder. Frigid almost, you pulled the neck of your coat up to cover half of your face, hoping to generate even a little bit more heat. It was only then you noticed the slight coating of frost on the ground, and numerous spikes of ice that only grew in size. 

The minion suddenly stopped, and you practically had to step over them so that you wouldn’t kick them like a soccer ball. Completely unfazed, they only pointed ahead of you. Before you laid a humongous, purple, mucky swamp. Broken docks and twisted, mangled trees littered the place, along with a huge skeleton of some unidentifiable creature. Dread churned in your stomach.

“The well’s that way. The water from the well flows through Subcon village so the well needs to be cleaned regularly.” They turned to you, “luckily for you though, the last contractor cleaned up the well pretty good. So you don’t have to deal with all that.”

“So… what am I supposed to do?”

“There’s a bunch of ice forming around the entrance to the well, and around the storm gate where the river comes from. If both get clogged, the whole thing has to be cleaned again. Which would end up being your job.”

“Ah, great.” 

“Don’t worry about it, this should be easy. Try not to get caught by the hands when you go through the swamp, though.”

You looked at them with wide eyes. “Hands??”

“Just don’t spend too long in the water.” 

“Snatcher hadn’t mentioned any of this before-hand.” You inquired, your tone accusatory. 

“He usually doesn’t.” 

“That sounds very inconvenient.” 

They sighed, scratching the back of their head (hood?) with a nubby hand. “The boss doesn’t really _care_ if a contractor dies on the job. Or even if they complete it. He’s just in it for the souls–and for the fun of it.” 

You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose, then rubbed your eyes. “That does not bode well with my chances of getting out of here _alive.”_

“Chances are you won’t.” They shrugged again.

You bent down into a squat, eyeing the minion suspiciously. “You don’t sound like you like him very much…”

The minion sat down on the ground, swaying back and forth with the breeze. “Oh, no no, I think he’s actually kinda cool! He could be a little nicer, sure. But he’s the boss! And in his forest; he does what he wants.” 

”What’s your name?” You asked, suddenly more curious about these little spirit-possessed dolls rather than the big bad himself. They broke eye contact with you, thinking to themself for a moment. Did they have a name? And even if they did while they were alive, would they even be able to remember it? A few minutes passed before they finally spoke again. 

“Li.” They decided.

“Li…” you stood and tapped your chin. Looking out over the swamp, you thought about the safest way you could go about this task.

“Can I give you some advice, (Y/N)?” 

You looked at them curiously. “Before you do this, take a nap or something. You look like you’re five seconds away from passing out.” 

Come to think of it, you were awfully tired. You suppose you had just crossed that threshold of “regular tired” into “energetic tired” and had forgotten, which was honestly really bad in hindsight.

“But–what about the contract?”

“He didn’t give you a time-limit, right? He usually doesn’t. And the ice is a lot slower than it looks” They got up and started walking back to the village, but first pointed towards a bonfire that you, somehow, had missed earlier. Just chalk it up to your exhaustion.

“You can rest by that fire over there, the fire-spirits won’t mind. Believe me, you’re gonna wanna be ready for the kind of stuff he’s gonna throw at you.” 

“Fire-spirits??” 

“Yeah, they’re harmless, just really annoying is all.” Li looked back at you, expecting a response, to which you had none. This was a lot to process, the swamp, swamp hands, fire-spirits, and to top it off; this subconite being so nice and helpful to you?? As if you deserved any of this? This place really had its own _thing_ going on, huh?

You ambled up to the bonfire while Li started their trek back home. It was warm all right, warm and comfy. You sat down, close enough to feel the heat of the fire, but not too close so as to disturb what you assumed were the fire-spirits. Other worldly, fox-like beings danced, chanted and sang around the embers. As strange as it was, it brought a relaxing lull to your overworked, stressed mind. Maybe…. just maybe… this wasn’t going to be so bad, these chores didn’t seem like they’d be that hard, they’d require a bit more creative thinking, maybe. But not that hard. 

You laid down on your side in the grass, head on your hands. You struggled quite a bit with insomnia in the past, as you practically had to sleep with one eye open, which only opened the door to a cascade of bad sleeping habits. But it seemed that sleep would be quick on the draw this time. No fight, no fuss. 

That was fine. Sleep (when it decided to be) was a dependable escape from your own life, always an option and a blessing. Soon, you wouldn’t even need sleep to escape your life, soon…

You’d be able to do that yourself.

You’d be able to start over.

The hypnotic voices of the fire spirits washed away the last of your thoughts, as you slipped into the sweet, relieving embrace of sleep.

  
  



	3. Diamond Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain ghost is here to pester you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Help I can’t figure out how to get rid of the end notes from the 1st chapter.
> 
> All feedback and critique is appreciated!

_In the void of sun and moon, of nothing and all, they float aimlessly through a star-swept abyss. Concepts, just barely within and without earshot or view, muffled, familiar, and foreign. None of it of perfect clarity, or of complete distant unknown, all of it as in-betweens._

_They reach out, something nearby. Red and blue and fearful, and it is the most foreign thing there._

_“Hello.” It bellows a greeting, though pitch higher than anticipated, it was soft, so much so to bring almost them to tears. They do not respond. They cannot, it isn’t their place to speak, not their realm, not their time._

_“Ah, my mistake.” It chuckles, a somber delight. “But our time is little.” They are pulled closer by some force, like gentle a wind on their back and neck, towards it. Though it does nothing to clarify its shape, the red of its eyes would be sharp enough to pierce the twilight void._

_“I want to help you.”_

_A prodding pain in their side shakes the illusion, and with this, the world itself. The figure startles, then sighs._

_“I will see you again, soon, and we can discuss further.”_

_Another prod._

_“But say hello to that ol’ brute for me, won’t you?”_

_Another._

_Another._

_Another._

  
  
  


**“HelloOOOOO?? You dead already, kid? I get full rights to your soul if you are, you know.”**

You let out an annoyed groan. Turning over to look at the sky, your eyes instead meeting two yellow piercing eyes and a smile. Once again, he was super, unnecessarily close to your face, and you knew how he relished your discomfort.

**“Ah! There they are! How… disappointing…”**

You sat up and scowled at him. Snatcher backed up as you did, giving you the space you demanded. 

“What do you want?” You croaked, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

**“Oh nothing much, just wondering why you haven’t finished a** **_single one_ ** **of your contractual obligations yet.”**

You looked at him, suddenly awake and alert. “Wait, how long was I–“ a check of your watch confirmed your fears for you, but he decided he would remind you of how much time you wasted anyway.

**“About six hours.”** He hummed, **“sorry, but if you were trying to get some beauty sleep. You’re gonna have to shoot for a few extra! HA!”**

Okay, you were _not_ in the mood for this. Especially since he just woke you up from… _some_ kinda dream. You honestly couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad one, just that it felt important. You remembered…stars…eyes…and a voice?

Whatever it was, you’d worry about it later. You had work to do, and with that you stood and started towards the docks (what was left of them). Ignoring Snatcher’s indignant stare as you walked by without a word.

**“Hey! Don’t ignore me, Kid!”** He flew over to catch up with you.

“Stop calling me that, I’m not a kid.” You marched on, “and did you actually _need_ something? Or are you just here to _pester_ me?” 

**“Mostly the latter.”** He chuckled. **“And to check up on your progress. Not that you’ve made any.”**

You stuck a finger in the mucky water, cringing at how it stuck to your finger after you pulled it out. “Yeah okay, we’ve been over that. I overslept a little, but I’m doing it now.” You took off your boots and rolled up your pant legs as far as they would go. “So if you could chill and let me do my work...” you glared at him, “that’d be greatly appreciated.” 

An expression you couldn’t quite distinguish briefly passed over his face, then relaxed into that same calm, collected, _infuriating_ grin. The kind of grin you’d like to punch. A lot.

**“Hmm… I could do that…”** he tapped his chin, faking consideration. **“But you don’t seem to do well with responsibility. So perhaps it would be best if I…** **_kept an eye on_ ** **you.”**

You took in a sharp inhale, and dropped into the icky water. Wading through it as fast as you could to another piece of broken dock. Li had said not to spend too much time in the water, or else…

**“Besides! I wanna be there for when you fall down the well and crack your head open!”**

Son of a– can he please leave already?! 

You grasped onto the edge with a gasp, pulling yourself out of the water and laying down with a _plop_ onto the wood. That water… is _significantly_ thicker than you thought it would be. 

This wasn’t gonna work.

“Look…Snatcher…” you gasped, sitting up, “if you’re gonna be following me around while I do your chores. I’m gonna need you to shut your trap.” You emphasized your statement with zipping motion across your lips.

**“You oughta watch your** **_tone_ ** **,** **_kid.”_ **

“You oughta watch your _attitude_.” You shot back. 

Silence engulfed the two of you, both of you locked in a heated glaring contest. As if you were both attempting to burn holes in each other’s foreheads through sheer willpower alone. You’d _never_ felt this... _agitated_ with someone before... and even if you had, you usually would’ve backed down at the first signs of conflict. And yet; you had only known him for several hours and he could make the blood rush to your cheeks faster than a harsh winter blizzard. He made you _want_ to stand up for yourself, to yell to the world that you fucking _mattered_. What about him brought out this side of you? The constant pestering? The cliche villain trope he played? You felt… ack, what’s a good word…?

Ah yes. You _loathed_ him. 

He broke the staring contest with a low chuckle, raising his hands in mock defense and backing up. 

**“Alright… I’ll leave you to do your work. But–“** he booped you on the nose, **“I’m watching you.”**

“Watch this!” You yelled as you made a very _specific_ gesture at him as he disappeared into the shadow of a tree, disappointing you that you couldn’t see his reaction. 

“And I’m not a kid!”

  
  
  
  
  



	4. Deep Freeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't go in the cave, don't follow the breeze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback and critique is appreciated!

Okay... That. Sucked.  _ Way  _ more than it should have. 

Getting rid of the ice proved to be a bit more difficult than originally anticipated. Simply  _ getting _ to the well was time consuming and nearly sapped you of all your energy, leaving you just  _ aching _ to take another nap. Numerous times you had been pulled under the surface of the swamp, gasping and grasping desperately for any kind of solid object or ground, numerous times you had held onto the docks for dear life as hands yanked at your ankles. Determined on dragging you down to join them within their own soggy hell. 

And top it off, you’d  _ think _ that a simple fire spell would be enough to melt an iced over well and logically speaking; it would be. Provided you were actually able to  _ cast  _ the spell in the first place (which you weren’t). It was disappointing, but nothing new, as history had reminded you time and time again of your inadequacy regarding spells other than basic cantrips, or your birthright magic. It was just a matter of time and practice, a  _ lot  _ of practice. Luckily, there were other means of going about completing your task. 

By the way, did you know exploding cherries are apparently a thing that exist?

You trudged back to the village, backpack firmly locked in one hand, and your soaked-through clothes dangling in the other. Thank god you had brought extra clothes with you, as soaked garments wasn’t really your  _ ideal  _ choice of fashion. Or comfort.

You dropped all your items on the ground upon reaching your destination, eyes firm and focused on the problem ahead of you. As tired as you were, you raised your wand at the ice-clogged river gate. There were cherries nearby, sure, but you felt this would be as good an opportunity as any to practice your powers. How else were you going to survive on your own?

“Of inner radiant, light conjure forth...”

Frustration settled in your stomach as the hushed words fell from your mouth. A result of the incantation, of course. Magic fed off of the deepest emotions within one’s heart, the intensity of the feeling determining the fallout of the magic. Which, for any untrained magic wielder, would manifest in the form of their birthright magic. No matter how repressed or well controlled. 

Of course, you wouldn’t  _ need  _ to repress them if you just had been raised by a normal family who didn’t constantly badger you of the so-called “potential” wasted on you. So what if you could only do cantrips, low level spells and your birthright? Wasn’t that enough for them? Was it not enough that you trained nearly every day under that roof? Or spent countless hours in the library reading your life away on meaningless techniques and shortcuts, so as to  _ finally  _ achieve that fantasy of living up to their expectations? Of course not! Nothing was enough! Nothing was  _ ever  _ enough!! Now here you were being pushed to extremes by both your family and some wannabe evil lawyer poltergeist with no volume control when all you came here to do was to find a fucking flowe–!

“Whatcha doin?” 

A voice interrupted your spell, snuffing out the raging intensity burning in your chest, leaving behind only a dull ache in your heart and a faint wetness in your eyes. 

With a shaky inhale, you spun around, ready to scold the subconite who had startled you.

Except, it wasn’t a subconite. It was a kid, a normal one, an  _ alive  _ one, staring at you curiously through big blue eyes. Sporting a comical purple top hat with a matching outfit… Did you recognize her?

“Hat… kid…?”

She smiled at the sound of her name. “That’s me! You heard of me?”

_ ‘Heard’  _ was an understatement. You were all too aware of the commotion this little one had caused all over the planet only three months ago. At the time, you were still living with  _ them,  _ so you hadn’t been able to see much of the disaster first-hand. But boy, did it make for some interesting morning news.

“You could say that.”

She smiled in that deceptively innocent way children do, before looking past you at the river gate. “You need some help with that?” 

“Ah! No, no I got it.” 

“Pleeeeeease???” Her begging caught you off guard, never mind why she was in this wretched place to begin with, why would she want to help you? You couldn’t give her anything, you didn’t  _ have  _ anything!

_ You’re not exactly worth helping. _

Your throat tightened. 

“I mean–if you really want to,” you stepped aside, “be my guest.” 

She cracked her knuckles and confidently tipped her hat back with a flick. “Don’t worry, this should only take a second!” She rushed over, picking up an exploding cherry from the ground and running past a dweller, causing it to light up a brilliant scarlet red. Accompanied by the obvious hissing that would come from a cherry bomb.

After a particularly loud explosion and you having to duck to avoid flying ice shards, Hat Kid sauntered back with a self-satisfied gleam in her eyes. “There! All taken care of!” She exclaimed, dusting her hands off. “Anything else on the contract?”

“What–wait– how did you know about my…?”

“Pssh, please, why else would you still be in Subcon?” 

You opened your mouth to explain, then closed it again. No, you wouldn’t tell her that, you wouldn’t tell anyone, you promised. Remember?

“What about you? Why are you here?” You tried to change the subject. 

She skipped past you, turning around to walk backwards away from you while speaking. “I’ll tell ya! But we still got work to do!”

You couldn’t help the smile that pulled at the corners of your mouth. You gathered your things and trailed behind her. 

_‘She’s definitely a lively one…’_ you thought to yourself as you followed after Hat Kid, who continued to walk backwards as she spoke.

“So, what’s next on the list?” She asked. 

“I need to find someone named… Casey.” You recalled, though you had no earthly idea who that was. She, however, brightened at the name.

“Oh! I bet I know where they are! Follow me!”

She ran off at a ludicrous speed, trailing dust behind her that flew in your face. You barely managed to keep up, you knew she was an alien, but holy peck! What kind of leg muscles did she have??

Panting and gasping for air, you clumped up beside Hat Kid. She allowed you a few seconds to catch your breath, patting you on the back sympathetically (though a bit harder than you would have liked).

Hat Kid rushed up to the center of the large cobblestone bridge, the center of which was completely collapsed and destroyed and most likely at the bottom of the massive chasm below you. You noted the frost that covered not only the part you were standing on, but the other end across the chasm; ever so slowly crawling forward towards the rest of the forest. 

“Alright, lets go.” 

She grabbed your hand, pulling you forward toward the chasm. Panic welled inside you as you tried to pull away, but she held your hand in an iron grip, and considering how small her hands were to hers, you would’ve found that impressive if not for the fact th **_at SHE WAS PULLING YOU TO YOUR DEATH_ ** .

“WOAH WOAH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” You shrieked, causing her to suddenly let go. 

“Uh– getting us across??” 

You inhaled deeply and ran hands through your hair in exasperation. Then placed a gentle, but firm, hand on her shoulder. 

“Kid, I’m guessing that gravity is probably different for you on this planet than on your home planet.” 

“Yeah, a little. It feels weaker.”

“But–“ you pointed to yourself– “I did not grow up on your planet, I grew up here. Plus, I weigh more than you.”

Realization dawned on her face, and she looked away from you with an embarrassed blush.

“So if we were to jump across that gap…” You continued. 

“We’d be pancakes...” She finished. 

It was silent for a moment, you felt a bit guilty at her embarrassment. She had good intentions, she just forgot to account for the change, she was still a kid. You gave her an encouraging pat on the head, she brightened a little, enough to look at you at least.

“So…” Hat Kid began, “how are we gonna get across?” 

“Don’t worry,” you raised your wand and winked at her, “I got this.” 

In seconds, the two of you were raised into a vortex of wind, flying swiftly through the air over to the other side of the chasm. Hat Kid screamed in delight (or fear) as you guided the vortex towards the ground with an elegant wave of your wand. Gracefully landing on the stone bricks of the bridge along with Hat Kid. Who landed a little…  _ less… _ gracefully... on her face… in the snow… ouch.

“You… alright there?” You covered your mouth with a hand, trying not to laugh. She didn’t move for a moment, then gave you a thumbs up. “Well alright then.” 

You wandered over to her as she picked herself up, “soooo, who is this… _ Casey _ …by the way?” You asked, hands innocently behind your back.

She wiped the snow off her face. “Oh, them? Casey’s just another one a’ Snatcher’s minions.”

She tapped her chin, “though a bit more… _ adventurous.. _ .” 

You eyed her suspiciously. “Meaning they get into a lot of trouble, don’t they?”

Hat Kid nodded.

“Great…” you looked off into the distance at the hellish winter landscape. Even from here you could tell how distinctly different it was from the rest of Subcon. Snow came down in almost endless droves, obscuring the faint forms of distant structures in a white, flurry haze. It would take hours to find one of those munchkins in this blizzard. You were already shivering, even 20 minutes in here would turn you into the world’s worst popsicle. 

Feeling a tug on your coat sleeve, you looked down to meet Hat Kid’s eyes as she held out a small item towards you. “Here, this should help.” 

The item in question was a little blue badge, detailed with a little pink flame in the center. “It’s the Temp Badge!” She exclaimed, “Badge Seller had some new badges in stock today, and I thought this one looked pretty.” 

Taking the badge from her hand, you could feel how warm it was and the temptation to hold it closer to you grew strong. But this was her’s, was it really ok for you to take it? 

“Are you sure…?” You started to ask, unsure, but she cut you off with a wave.

“It’s fine, you can take it.” She put a confident fist to her chest. “A little cold never hurt me before!” 

You weren’t sure how well-placed her confidence was, but– she seemed to know her way around this place. Meaning she survived it all before, so you guess it was okay. You affixed the badge to the front of your coat, instantly, you felt the cold wash away from your body. Like taking a hot shower, but without the wet. 

“Wow.” 

“Yup.” Hat Kid grinned. 

—————

It was amazing, nearly 40 minutes of searching and you didn’t feel even the slightest bit of cold. You definitely would have to look into who this “badge-seller” fella was, after this was all said and done.

The Frost Zone was much prettier than you thought it would be. Ice spikes and pillars glinted beautifully despite the lack of moonlight, but 

what little light that did shine through reflected itself in the pristine, untouched snow, giving to the illusion of like and pieces of shiny glass. It was still creepy as all hell, sure, but so was Subcon. Best to appreciate beauty where you could find it, right?

“Hey! Look over here!” Hat Kid’s voice interrupted your fun in the snow. You trudged over, admiring the large grandiose entrance of an ice cave, but when you saw what Hat Kid had found, you couldn’t help but snicker. 

Two little stumpy legs poked out of a large snow bank, waving back and forth rapidly in a futile attempt to escape their snowy prison. Mumbled cursings could be heard from underneath the pile.

You gave Hat Kid a nod, “okay, on three.” You instructed, taking hold of one of the subconite’s legs while Hat Kid grabbed the other. 

“One…Two…”

“THREE!” Hat Kid finished counting for you, pulling violently. The subconite popped out of the snow easier than expected, shrieking as they got thrown backward by the two of you. Landing on their back in another snow bank with an audible  _ POMF.  _

“Yeah! Nice job!” You cheered, holding up a hand to your little partner, who happily high-fived it and pumped her little fist in the air. 

“Great, now if you two are done  _ celebrating… _ ” The minion, presumably named Casey, waved their little hands about while craning their head in an attempt to get up. “Help me down.” 

You did as you were told, gingerly picking up Casey and setting them down on the ground with exaggerated care. You took a moment to observe the little minion, they wore a pink bandana haphazardly tied around their neck, along with a little wooden knife sheathed in a gun holster belt. You would’ve found it quite cute if not for the fact that…. nah, it was just cute, through and through.

“You must be the newbie, huh?” They questioned, wiping the snow, you responded with a nod. 

“Name’s (Y/N).” 

“Well  _ (Y/N)...”  _ Their tone was overly accusatory “I’ve already done the rounds ‘round here, nothing to report so you can skedaddle on back to base.” 

“Actually…” you exchanged a look with Hat Kid, “we’re out here because we were sent to find  _ you. _ ”

Casey mulled over your words for a second, before giving a hardy, awkward laugh. “Ha! The boss was worried about me, eh? Well as you can see, I’m fine! Now you can just– um–” they stammered, unsure of how to respond to the sudden attention they were receiving all at once.

Your shoulders bounced with a silent chuckle. You knew how that felt, to have everyone’s eyes on you, watching, waiting, all the while not knowing what to say or do for fear of a negative reaction. Reaching over, you gave the minion a small pat on the head. “I’m sure Snatcher knew you’d be just fine, what else would you expect from a warrior such as yourself?” 

Casey brightened considerably at your praise and you could feel your heart swell with pride. 

“Right! I’ll go and report back to him myself! Thanks...uh…”

“(Y/N).”

They gave a curt nod, then turned around to walk towards the broken bridge. Would they need any help getting out? They had gotten in by themself, so maybe they knew how to get out as well. You took a few steps in the snow with the intention of following Casey and Hat Kid back to Subcon village. 

A sharp breeze whipped past your cheek, and while you had endured that pretty much this entire quest. This one felt...different…intentional.

Beckoning.

You twirled around, turning your attention to the mostly-ice covered cave entrance. The wind whistling a foreboding tune between the gaps and holes in the glacier. Something was there… someone…?

“(Y/N)?”

Hat Kid tugged at your sleeve, concern in her eyes. 

“Ah–sorry Hat, I was just– um…” You didn’t exactly meet her eyes, but gave her a small, awkward wave.

“Curious ‘bout what’s back there?” 

You nodded. 

“Heh, yeah. I was too…” she grabbed your hand, slowly pulling you away from the daunting ice cave. 

“But it’s not worth it. Believe me, there’s nothing in there of value.”

She was right, you knew that somehow, but deep down. Though, you knew something else, like a fact that had magically worked its way into your brain.

You would find out what’s there, whether you wanted to or not.


	5. Peach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quest Complete! Now to report back to the boss...
> 
> Better watch what you say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback and critique is appreciated!

“And then I absolutely beat the crap outta him!” 

Hat kid waved her hands about in excitement as you three walked along the path back back to the village. She had decided to tell you all about her misadventures in Subcon. From the second she got caught by Snatcher to the moment she forced him into the “BFF Contract”. You had to admit, it was quite impressive (if not hilarious) that she managed to do _all that_. Guess that’s what you’d expect from a time-traveling space kid. Casey spun around and nudged her with an elbow. “That’s not even _half_ of the stuff this kid’s done! Tell ‘em about the Death Wishes!” 

“Death Wishes?” You leaned in, intrigued by the words. “They’re–”

“The hardest contracts the Boss has to offer.” A familiar voice cut her off. The pure impassivity of the statement itself was enough to tip off the identity of the speaker. 

Li approached your little group, waddling in the same way as all the other subconites did, but there was a sense of maturity in their step. Of purpose and confidence. Making their outward appearance feel…wrong. 

“They extend outside the borders of Subcon, and are only given to the toughest of the tough.” The action of Li’s singular yellow eye glancing briefly at Casey was not lost on you. Did they know each other?

“Of which I happen to be.” Hat kid boasted, and you had to wonder whether it was genuine pride or just an attempt to diffuse the rising tension. If it was for the latter, you would say it… didn’t really work. Li simply sighed in response and turned their whole attention on Casey, who flinched under their tense, stern gaze. “Where have you been? I was looking for you.” 

“Ah– w-well… I was–” Casey stammered. “I was– you know, running my rounds! Making sure everything was okay!” 

“In the Frost Zone?”

“Well I–”

“In the _one_ place the Boss tells us never to go?” 

They went silent and fiddled around with their pink bandana, not meeting the gaze of the slightly taller minion. Li was right in that Casey shouldn’t have gone to the Frost Zone, but you didn’t think they needed to be so cross about it… Casey was okay and that was what mattered, right? 

“You’d think they were related…” You whispered over to Hat Kid as you watched the one-sided argument. 

“They are.”

Your jaw dropped slightly and you looked at Hat Kid with wide eyes. They were related? Like siblings? You didn’t even know subconites could even _have_ siblings. Maybe they were siblings while they were alive…?

Hat Kid shook her head, not really wanting to get into the specifics of it. She instead turned to you with bright eyes, “why don’t you go tell Snatcher you completed your contract? I’ll meet up with ya later!” 

Truth be told, you didn’t want to go just yet, especially if it was to go discuss work with that edgy shadow worm of a spirit. 

But– if you didn’t do it now, you’d only end up having to do it later, and you honestly did _not_ want that kind of thing sitting in the back of your mind bugging you. 

“Alright, I’ll see you later, make sure they don’t kill each other, yeah?”

“Yeah!” 

—————

To say you were surprised, was a bit of an understatement. 

You didn’t really know what you expected, but it sure wasn’t Snatcher sitting calmly in a large red chair in a well-furnished, unbelievably _normal_ sitting area. He didn’t look up from his book as you approached, seemingly far-too engrossed in its contents. You tip-toed up to him, staying low to the ground so you could get a little peek at the title.

“Lure of the Storm?” You inquired suddenly, causing him to jump, much to your satisfaction. 

**“I–wha–“** he spluttered, attempting to regain his composure, **“Yes?? What about it?”**

“Isn’t that that trashy romance-mystery novel from, I wanna say... 20 years ago?” 

He glared at you from over the top of his book. A small smirk formed on his face as an idea came to him. 

**“And how would you know that if you hadn’t read it?”**

You looked away as the heat rose to your cheeks. “A-and so what if I have? I didn’t say it was _bad…”_

**“You said it was trashy.”**

“Those two aren’t necessarily synonymous!”

He let out a bark of a laugh, placing his book on the nightstand beside him with a gleam of mischief in his empty, yellow eyes. He leaned forward in an attempt to appear intimidating. To which you simply rolled your eyes in response. And you started to wonder how many times he was gonna do this before he realized it had no effect on you. 

**“Anyway, you finished your contract? Excellent...”**

He flicked his wrist, conjuring up your contract with a puff of purple smoke in one hand, and a stamp in the other. **“So ya found Casey, hm? Where were they? How’d that go over with Li?”**

“The Frost Zone. Wait– you know about Li and Casey?” 

He side-eyed you **“Of course I do! Just because they’re my minions, doesn’t mean I’m not aware of their personal affairs!”** He emphasized his statement with a quick stamp of completion on the paper. Burning up in a magnificent blue flame. 

**“Li had actually asked me personally to find Case. But of course, I have you now, so why not just make you do it?”**

_I have you now._ Your mind clung to those words for some reason, a gentle fuzzy feeling lingered in your stomach. You ignored it. You were probably just hungry. Yeah, you didn’t have breakfast that morning (that is, if mornings were a thing in this eternal night of a forest), so it’d make sense if you were hungry. 

**“Besides, I’m busy.”** ****

You crossed your arms. “You don’t _seem_ very busy if you’re just sitting in here reading.” 

**“Trust me, I am.”** He sat back down in his chair and began to resume his book. 

“And why would I ever trust you?” 

You stood beside his chair on your tippy-toes, pushing yourself up with your arms on the armrest in a futile attempt to match his height. Meeting his eyes full-on with your own competitive glare. 

**“Because…”** his lips drew up into a snarl, leaning closer to your face with an incessant deadly growl that reverberated down your back. **“Your life may come to depend on it, one day.”**

“Assuming I live another year.” A dare, laced in your words like a fine poison. Daring him to do something, to hurt you, to yell at you. Not that you wanted him to, of course, but a part of you felt as if you didn’t need to worry about that. Besides, his flustered reactions were far too enjoyable. So if he was going to intentionally be a bother to you. Well, _you_ were gonna make that _his_ problem.

**“Yeah, assuming.”** He chuckled darkly, turning back to his book. Quite the disrespectful little bug you were, huh? But he wouldn’t kill you yet, no, you were far too entertaining. Even if almost every little sentence that left your mouth would’ve gotten another contractor killed on the spot. 

**“Now get lost, Peach. I’ve got reading to catch up on.”**

He could almost hear the dial-up tone that played in your head, and fought the urge to laugh when he stole a glance at your flabbergasted expression. 

“Peach???” 

A loud, raucous laugh escaped him and he covered his mouth quickly to stifle his snickers. Barely able to get his words out. **“What’s the matter? You said you didn’t want to be called Kid, so I’m callin' you something else!”**

“Or you could– I don’t know– call me by my fucking name?!” Oh goodness your bewildered face was absolutely _priceless._ He burst into laughter, completely unable to hold it back any longer. All the while your face was redder than a cherry, as you yelled various versions of “shut up”, along with a few more _colorful_ words.

Eventually, he calmed down from his cackling, wiping a tear (a real one this time) from his eyes. He brought his book back up to read. **“Anyway… come back tomorrow and I’ll have more work for you.”**

“A-and my soul?” 

He scoffed, and whatever moment you two had had before was dashed by the harshity of his tone. **“You’ll get that back when** **_I say so_ ** **. Now…”** he peeped over the top of his book, his eyes squinting into angry little slits. **“** **_Scram, Peach.”_ **

His voice carried that familiar lift in it that signaled to you when a subject was no longer negotiable, and to pry further would surely end with undesirable consequences. 

You don’t know why, but you hesitated. Your body was turned to leave, but your eyes still looking back at him through your peripherals. What were you waiting for? _Why_ were you waiting for anything at all? You huffed, looking away from him before finally stomping out of the tree nook. Unaware of the golden gaze that followed intently. 

You didn’t really know where you would go until tomorrow, you couldn’t go “home”(Not that you’d want to). Maybe you could stay with Casey and Li? But then again, their little tree houses looked much too small for you. Stay at an inn in Mafia town? You so few pins it’d feel like a waste to–

“So how’d it go?” The sudden visage of Hat Kid’s whole face knocked you backwards. Landing painfully onto the ground. “Oops! Sorry!”

You looked up at her, semi-annoyed. She was hanging from her legs from a lowdown branch that extended over the dirt pathway. 

“About as well as you could expect from that elongated eggplant.” You grumbled, standing up. She giggled at your creative insult, then jumped with an almost supernatural agility to the ground below. 

“So! What’s next on the bucket list?”

“He said to come back tomorrow for more work.” You said with a huff. Hat Kid, oddly enough, seemed surprised.

“Huh, that’s new.” She tapped her chin in thought, “Usually he just gives you contract after contract and expects ya ta get it done whenever.” 

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, maybe ol’ Snatchie finally ran out of common busywork. And has to write some new stuff for you.” She smiled, amused by the thought. 

“So the work is really just a formality.” You asked, somewhat worried at what that meant for you.

“Pretty much, but don’t worry.” She shot you a wink and swung her big blue umbrella around her finger. “When the actually _important_ stuff happens, I’ll be right there to help ya.” 

You didn’t want to have to ask a… how old was she, eleven? You didn’t want to have to ask a _kid_ for help, but… she _did_ manage to beat the big bucatini himself, _and_ she was offering. So…

“You wouldn’t happen to…” You hesitated, mulling over your words. “Have a place I could stay? At least for tonight?” 

Hat Kid quite literally bluescreened for a moment. Before a smile that could rival Snatcher’s spread across her cheeks. Her eyes _sparkling_ with pure, unadulterated excitement. 

“YEAH!! You can stay as long as you want!! It’ll be like a sleep-over! We could play video games! Or watch a movie and eat popcorn! Did you know I was in a movie once?! It was really bad and I almost killed the director–“ she ranted on, suggesting activity after activity and story after story as she led you to her “beam-up” spot. You really couldn’t tell if she was even stopping to take breathes.

Hopefully you’d be able to get some sleep tonight, but you wouldn’t count on it. 

Hey, at least you had someplace to stay. 


	6. Phantasmagoria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You make a friend, and gain an ally

_They stepped forward, whatever shoes they wore (or lack thereof) made no sound against the tile floors. On their final judgement call, dead quiet bled from the walls, no sound reached this place. Not even their breathing. It was a void nothing, highlighting only the unwanted destination that they were forced to go. Existential dread was always present in this certain dream, always waiting, always wanting._

_They grabbed the brass door handles of the immense door before them, suddenly acutely aware of the enormous, elaborate hallway they were in._

_They pulled and they stumbled, they turned and they leaned. A flash of light, a different scene._

_Walls of clouds, too sunny and bright. Underneath and around them, bathed in twilight. They stood on an invisible floor, allowing them to see the clouds below. Where exactly they were, was more than they could know._

_They placed a hand down on the small, silver table. (Where it came from, they didn’t know.) Their hand phased through it like a mirage, wavering like a reflection in water they couldn’t feel. Lightheaded, they felt so, so lightheaded, and from that would’ve usually come a sense of drowsiness. Of which rising panic would then swiftly pull the rug from underneath them._

_In normal circumstances, at least._

_All of it was there, the headache, the panic, the_ pain. _But in this strange realm, they felt disconnected from themself. From the emotions and instincts that had been ingrained in their pathetic little head since they were a child. Run, be quiet, hide, de-escalate, avoid, withdraw…_

_Sleep._

_“Ah hello! It’s good to know you could make it.” A voice greeted them warmly from all directions. You noticed how familiar it was, from the slight echo to layered pitch variations that followed the voice like white noise. Wait..._

_You?_

_“Hm, still having a bit of trouble with the lucidity it seems. Allow me…”_

_—_

You gasped, blinking your eyes open as your head shot up from the pillow. The thunderous palpitations of your own heart resounding loudly in your ears, and all that “panic” from before was suddenly very, _very_ real. You shakily inhaled, aggressively rubbing at your face with quivering hands when you could feel the tears begin to form. You had to calm down, you _needed_ to. You couldn’t–you _can’t–_

_You can’t let them catch you like this, remember what happened last time._

You inhaled again, less shaky this time. The irises of your eyes briefly glowing a sharp lime green before fading back to their normal color as you exhaled steadily. 

A small breeze blew in from a nearby window, blowing past your face, and it all came rushing back to you. Leaving you quite _confused._

There wasn’t supposed to be wind, not here. Not in space, which is where you last remember being. You were still in space right? Had Hat Kid kicked you out after you fell asleep? Had you fallen asleep?? Not that you would put it past her if she did, you probably had overstayed your welcome anyway–

“Hello!” You nearly jumped out of your skin at the sound of a voice directly in your right ear. Causing you to fly off the bed and land painfully on the floor. 

“Oh _stars!!_ I’m terribly sorry, are you alright?!” The voice spoke again. It was a smooth tenor voice, though the echoes of fluctuating pitches still accompanied it. You couldn’t help but think that whoever had a voice like _that_ would kill on karaoke night. 

A ghost looked over you, at least, you assumed it was a ghost. Seeing as how they floated above you. Glitch-like particles trailing nonchalantly behind them before fading into nothing. One piercing red bullseye and a diamond patch gazed worriedly at you from over the edge you had fallen from. 

“Y-yeah. I’m good.” You strained, struggling to right yourself into a standing position, and not upside-down on the floor. 

They sighed in relief, placing a hand over his chest to calm his nerves. “Thank goodness… my humblest apologies Mx. (Y/N). It’s… been quite some time since I last projected a mortal into my ho–“ He cut off when you raised your hand in silence. If he was gonna launch into some out-of-this-world explanation, you needed to ready yourself to _process_ it first.

You closed your eyes, inhaling deeply and resumed the breathing exercises you had started before. Once you had finally given yourself a moment to collect yourself and get your breathing under control, you opened your eyes. Taking a moment to assess your surroundings in order to ground yourself to reality a little more. 

You were in a bedroom, and a beautiful one at that. The very bed beside you was draped with a translucent light blue canopy. The shiny blue cover sheet designed with intricate swirls and crescents that shimmering in the dawn light streaking in. Detailed baby blue dressers lined the opposite wall of the bed, on top of an immaculate mahogany floor. A large, complex rug of various different cool colors with accents of red took up nearly the whole floor. The entire setting strung together with well-placed accents of saturated red that contrasted the cool blue of the room. And that’s not to even mention how _spacious it was_ . Interior designers of even the highest caliber would _cry_ over this. 

“U-um...Hello?” The phantom waved a hand in front of your face, knocking you from your daze. You looked at them, taking them in as well. His head was shaped like a crescent as well, which struck you as odd, but amusing. His long red coat flowed elegantly behind him, leaving behind little glitchy particles whenever he moved. Along with that clattering of the shackles that adorned his wrists, of course. You could tell they were magical in nature, as the chains themselves were diamond-shaped and glowing, each clink echoing like cursed little bells. 

“Right, sorry.” You mumbled, suddenly extremely self-conscious. “Uh… who are you?”

Seeing he finally had your attention, he grinned. A set of rather menacing fangs displaying themselves, but other than the slight discomfort of the situation. You didn’t really feel any reason to be afraid of him. They didn’t seem to want to hurt you, as he kept his distance for the most part, floating on the other side of the bed and providing you at least a few feet of space.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, I am the Moonjumper!” He exclaimed, waving his hands out with dramatic flair, his chains rattling loudly with the movement. “And welcome… to The Horizon!” 

“The… Horizon??” You inquired

He scratched his cheek nervously, looking away but not turning away. “Well, _kind of_ welcome. You’re not _entirely_ here right now. Just dream projecting” 

“Dream project–I’m still dreaming?!” You raised your hands to touch your face, your skin felt solid and just the same as ever. You looked down at your arms and hands, every single freckle, mark, mole or scar was accounted for.there was no way this was a dream. How could this be a dream!? You’ve _done_ lucid dreaming before, but _never_ had you had a dream this... _coherent._

“Yes! Actually. The Horizon is a sort of– _dream realm_ , in a sense. One that can be visited both physically and mentally.” They levitated in front of you and held out a hand. You hesitated, before gingerly taking it. He gently pulled you to a standing position next to him, before promptly letting go and backing away a little. Providing you space once again, or maybe it was more for him?

“I attempted to pull you here yesterday, but I could not establish a strong enough connection. So I apologize if it was a little… _blurry._ ”

“That was _you?”_

“Yes! I apologize once again for the suddenness of our meeting.”

“Stop apologizing.”

“Sorry.” 

You sat back down on the bed to process his words. Until you shot up and ran around the bed to the large window curtains, throwing them open. It was just...clouds. Clouds as far as the eye could see. Which you would’ve thought to be quite beautiful if not for the fact that there was _no ground in sight._ Not even below the supposed building you were in.

“I– can see you’re rather… confused about all this…” He wrung his hands in a nervous gesture. Approaching to float beside you as you gawked at the scenery outside. “Perhaps, we could go for a walk and I can explain further?” 

You shot them a glare. “Confused” couldn’t even _begin_ to describe how you felt. He flinched under your scrutiny, but did not back down. It didn’t seem like he had any ill-intentions, but that didn’t change just how _uneasy_ he made you. How all this made you! Still… can’t hurt to listen to his side of things first. Right?

“Sure…” He visibly relaxed.

“Excellent!” He clapped his hands twice. The entire room and it’s furniture instantly began to fold and compress like origami. Folding away until you stood on nothing at all. You stumbled back from the surprising lack of floor. It was like standing on glass.

“So, you're most likely curious as to my reasons for bringing you here.” He floated ahead of you, beckoning you with a hand to follow. 

You obliged, trailing behind him. “Maybe slightly.” 

“Ah ha, well. The truth is...” He inhaled, “I need your help.”

“Me? Why?”

He stopped, then turned around and raised both his hands. Hundreds of little red strings descended from his fingers like snakes, zipping past the invisible floor and disappearing into the clouds below. With one swift swipe of his hand, the clouds shifted and turned, clearing away at a supernatural speed. It was enchanting to watch.

Where there were once clouds, was now the tops of the scraggly purple trees. A gasp caught in your throat as you could almost see the entirety of the woods you had spent the last two days in. Had…had it really been two days? Time felt so…unreal there.

“Subcon Forest acts as a gateway between my Horizon, and the mortal world.” He explained, sitting down in front of you. The red strings tied onto his fingers dissipating into sparkly red stardust that floated away on an imaginary breeze. He looked down at the forest, a glint of longing and sadness tainting his usually piercing gaze. “And I have tried many times to contact people who enter its depths. Even that little hatted friend of yours.”

“You mean Hat Kid? Did she not want to help you?” 

“No no, that’s not it.” he absentmindedly waved a hand, “She’s from another planet. Believe it or not, her mind works differently from mine or even yours. Making it nigh impossible for me to enter her dreams.” 

“I… guess that makes sense.” You crossed your legs. Absentmindedly dragging your finger across the invisible ground. “But, what about the others? The ones that are from this planet?” 

“Too weak.” His face scrunched, in either frustration, or regret. “They would die if I asked them for help. Besides, they have only ended up losing their souls and their lives to you-know-who before I could get to them.” 

A pit of anger settled in your stomach. “Snatcher…”

Moonjumper nodded, “Yes. But–! I hold no grudge against him. And I don’t want you to either.” 

“ _I’ll_ decide whether or not I hold a grudge, thank you very much.” You snapped, though instantly regretted it when they flinched back.

“S-sorry, um…but...” you mumbled, picking your next words carefully. “Why me? How am I any different?” 

They smiled, quickly forgetting your small outburst. “You are a _witch,_ (Y/N), a powerful one at that. I’m not sure if you can sense it, but your connection to your own magical reservoir is much stronger than most. Making it easier for you to access other realms, as my Horizon. And honestly...?” 

He wrung his hands again, and you concluded it must be a nervous habit of his.

“I’m getting a little desperate.” 

You stifled a laugh, drawing an unamused, confused look from Moonjumper. 

“Did I say something funny?” 

“No! No, it’s just…” you stifled another giggle, “I am _not_ a powerful witch. My last five years of magic-training is proof enough of that.”

Moonjumper frowned.

You laughed, though the sound was devoid of any kind of joy. “Sorry but I’m useless to you. My magic basically puts me at the skill-level of a ten year old!” 

“And who says that isn’t enough?”

  
  


You went silent. 

You didn't respond to his question, despite them leaning down to try to meet your eyes. You simply focused your gaze on the darkness of the forest below.

“What...did you need help with again?” You questioned, changing the subject.

He gave a long sigh, fiddling with the chain on his wrist. “I need help escaping the Horizon.” 

“Escape? But I thought this was your home?” 

“It...used to be, now…” he closed his eyes, sadness and regret overtaking his face, your heart ached in sympathy. “Now it is just a prison to me.” 

Your eyes drifted over to Moonjumper’s shackles. Which he noticed, but decided not to acknowledge. Instead, he waved his hand, summoning what looked to be a large, navy blue spell book in front of him. It was detailed with golden edging, a symbol of the moon in the waxing crescent phase set in the cover, with no title to speak of. 

“This book lies somewhere within Subcon,” he handed it over to you, “It can help me.” 

“Seriously? You just need this book?” He nodded.

“Do you know where it is?” You asked, opening and examining the book’s contents. Or rather, it’s lack of contents, as every single page was completely blank. 

“Well, I do, but…” he fidgeted again, wrapping the diamond chains around his collective fingers. Looking at the ground as if the words he was looking for would appear there. “It’s in a rather dangerous location, possibly the most dangerous in all of Subcon. So I’d understand completely if you do not feel comfortable with–“

“Look, MJ.” His eyes widened slightly at the little nickname you used for him. “I’m either gonna die to Mr. Contract down there, or I can die trying to help you.” He frowned, you dying was not preferable in any sense.

“But–! You’ve been much more considerate about your deal-making than he was. So I think I’d be more inclined to help you.”

Their shoulders bounced in a silent chuckle, you seemed quite determined. Despite how many outs Moonjumper had given you and the level danger you would most likely encounter. It was quite admirable, if not a bit reckless. 

“If that is what you truly wish…” He bowed in gratitude, his head low to the ground as he spoke. “I _sincerely_ and _truthfully_ thank you. Thank you so so much Mx. (Y/N), I owe you a great debt.” 

“Yeah yeah, save it for when you _actually_ get out.” You laughed awkwardly, grabbing his elbow and forcing him from the ground. 

“And of course I’ll assist you in any way I can with your current _situation_.” He flashed his hands, the little red strings tied to his fingers floating about. “Which, believe it or not, I can do quite a bit of!” 

“You mean you're gonna help me get my soul back?” Your heart skipped in excitement. 

“Mhm! It’s only fair! And I’ll do my best to assist you in retrieving the book as well!” 

Oh this was _perfect_ . Now not only did you have a powerful-alien child on your side, but a ghost from a _dream dimension_ . You stood up with renewed determination, lost in thought as Moonjumper stood alongside you (well, more _floated_ alongside you). 

“So–going back–where did you say that book was?” You asked.

The clouds beneath and around you began to swirl and darken, bangs of thunder crashed above you in the formation of an oncoming hurricane with you two as its eye. The dim sunlight that seemingly came from everywhere now nothing but a faint memory. Along with Moonjumper’s smile, as his gaze stared ahead, unfocused. His long red coat fluttered wildly in the growing wind as he lost himself in a bout of painful memories. A cold breeze whipped past the both of you, frigid enough to slice through skin, but you recognized it. You spun on your heel as your pulse quickened. 

The wind immediately began to settle, allowing you a clear view of a large Manor. Buried in ice and snow, windows illuminated not with warm, welcoming orange light. No, the light almost seemed to be _accusing_ you, the metallic taste of raw anger on your tongue. Your breath hitched in your throat as Moonjumper gilded beside you to look up at the house in grim disapproval. 

“Queen Vanessa’s Manor.” 

  
  
  
  
  



	7. This Is Fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for self-deprecation
> 
> All feedback and critique is appreciated!

You jolted awake, your body briefly spazzing out at the sudden rush of consciousness that flooded your senses. One of your arms even managed to slap a video game controller that was laying by your side. You hit it at an awkward angle, though, sending a spike of pain to shoot up into your wrist. You hissed in pain as held your hand close to your chest. 

You were laying on the large pile of pillows that took up half of Hat Kid’s bedroom, appropriately deemed; “The Pillow Pool” by the kid herself. Who was also laying a few feet away, sound asleep with her own game controller sitting on her stomach. A small portable tv sat on the floor a few feet away. It’s screen long since turned off, whether automatically or manually, you couldn’t say for sure. You must’ve fallen asleep playing that “Spade Chevalier” game that Hat Kid had been so excited to play. 

“ _ I’ve actually had this game for a while, but it requires two players to get through the story mode.”  _ She had said.

You smiled at the memory, the pain in your wrist slowly subsiding. She had spent the whole night looking for things you two could do together, watching movies, playing games, exploring the ship. And she was even nice enough to provide you a change of clothes after your shower (a t-shirt and shorts, even if the shirt was a little big).

Despite the near-constant excitable attitude she presented. You couldn’t help but shake the feeling that something was...wrong. There were times where you caught a little too much sadness in her eyes and little too much loneliness in her words. It reminded you of...

_ “I need your help.”  _

Oh right! Moonjumper! Your dream! 

You sat up, quietly making your way to the automatic door, Hat Kid had shown you earlier the various functions of different things around the ship.  _ Including _ the overview map in the main control room, maybe you could access it real quick and get a look at where to find this……manor…?

...You stopped.

It didn’t feel right, using her stuff without permission. Even something as harmless as looking at the map. You looked back, seeing Hat Kid still fast asleep on the pillow pile, snoring softly. 

It was a rather subconscious decision, but you tiptoed back over and gently picked her up. 

She was a little heavier than you expected someone of her height to be, but not so heavy that you couldn’t carry her. Her face comfortably nestled into your shoulder, her light snoring resuming after a few nerve-wracking moments. 

Goodness, how had she survived all the things she’d been through? Sure she was an alien with super strength,  _ sure  _ she had a laser-shooting umbrella and magical badges given to her by some shady individual,  **_sure_ ** she had time-altering artifacts that could give a person massive untold power  _ and  _ a ship she piloted and maintained all by herself. But–but–good god.

She’s a pecking  _ kid.  _

You set her down in her bed, carefully bringing the covers up to her neck and placing her hat neatly on her nightstand. A small strand of her hair was covering one of her eyes, you reached over and….

No.

You turned out the light, quickly making your way out and crawling through the little doorway space leading to the main control room. When you approached the main console, you looked over the mass of buttons before and realized—you couldn’t actually read any of this. All the button labels were written in some kind of dialect. You remembered how she had turned on the map before, though. So this language barrier didn’t hinder you too much.

A quick flick of a switch, and an entire holographic map materialized in front of you, taking up the entirety of the large glass window. You identified Subcon Forest pretty easily, as the entire place was color-coded purple. Now about that manor…aha! It too was labeled in what you assumed to be the kid’s native language, but the image of the manor you had seen from your dream matched perfectly to the cover photo of the location. You had to wonder, though. Did anybody still live there? Moonjumper has said it was “Queen Vanessa’s” manor, maybe this “Vanessa” would be kind enough to just  _ lend  _ you the book. Then you recalled your dream, the metallic taste of hatred on your tongue, the ice cold wind that cut into your skin like a knife cutting butter, and Moonjumper’s  _ profuse _ warnings of caution. So maybe talking to her wasn’t...the best idea. 

You pulled out your phone and took a picture of the map before switching off the main console. You stared at the photo on your phone, losing yourself in thought. If it was in the frost zone, getting there without Snatcher noticing would be difficult. You had Moonjumper’s help, sure. But he seemed pretty limited in what he could do, maybe you could ask Hat Kid for some backup…?

_ “An adult? Asking a child for help? How low can you get?” _

You shook away the loose thought, sighing in defeat. It wasn’t that you thought Hat Kid wasn’t capable, it just...felt wrong.

You pocketed your phone, gazing through the window at your world below. You could almost see Mafia Town from here, your most recent place of staying. As well as Alpine Skyline, where you had briefly stayed when you were a preteen. You and your…” _ family”, _ never stayed in one place for too long. Always wanting to keep a low profile, and  _ specifically  _ always wanting to keep tabs on  _ you.  _

You were actually only supposed to be in Mafia Town for a short while, accompanying your mother on a so-called “business trip, but with the bustle and rush of the town? And how little your mother was around? It would’ve been a mistake to not use such an opportunity.

You pulled out your phone again, scrolling through your photos until you landed on a specific one. A photo of a page with an illustration of a glowing blue flower, petals held in a tight bud.

When all this was said and done, god, did you really wanna go through with this? You gazed back down at the planet and swallowed. They were out there somewhere, looking for you. And as long as they knew you existed, they wouldn’t stop looking for you. 

So you weren’t going to. 

In order to do that, you had to pay a price, of course. One that you had prepared yourself to pay ever since you found that photo. 

You sat down on the carpeted floor, leaning your head against the glass as you stared out into space. The quiet humming of the ship was your only companion against the cutting silence. As much as the truth pained you, you’d have to say goodbye to Li, Casey and Hat Kid for this plan to work. 

_ You’ve known them for two days, it’s pretty unlikely they’ll even notice you’re gone.  _

True, they’d mostly been helping you through this whole debacle, and you had little you could give in return. 

Yeah, this was for the best. Better you disappeared from their lives before they got involved in any of your issues. If there’s anything you hate more, it’s being a burden on–

**“So** **_now_ ** **you choose not to sleep. Gotta say; you’re not the best when it comes to priorities and time management.”**

You coughed, startled by the reverberant voice that pierced your thoughts. Why was  _ he  _ here? Why now?? 

**“Wow not even gonna say anything? Rude.”**

“What. The  **_hell_ ** . Do you want.” 

He chuckled darkly, waving a hand to dismiss the ire that bled from your question.“ **_Oooh_ ** **nothing much!”** He hummed,  **“Nothing from** **_you_ ** **at least. I’m here for the kid, where is she?** ”

“She’s asleep.” 

“ **Oh, that early? Did she even brush her teeth?”**

You whipped around to look at him in bewilderment. “Why is that any of your business??” 

Grim realization flashed on his face, and you swore you saw a light dusting of yellow on his cheeks. If only briefly. “ **Why–it’s not! I’m just saying–if she went to bed without even brushing her** **_teeth_ ** **...that’d be quite irresponsible of you, and** **_gross_ ** **of her, don’t you think?”**

“......What are you talking about???”

**“Nevermind!!”**

Wait, he wasn’t…there was no  _ way... _ was he…?

You stood. “Were you…. here to send her to bed??”

**“** **_NO!!!_ ** **”** He squealed.  _ Squealed. _ To say that you weren’t wheezing at this point would be a  _ huge  _ lie.

**_“Shut up!!_ ** **I don’t see** **_you_ ** **making sure she doesn’t pass out from sleep-deprivation!!”** He pointed a finger at you, which you simply moved aside with a hand while you wiped the away tears. 

“Are you kidding? I  _ tucked her in! _ ” 

**“Oh yeah? Then why is it any issue for me to make sure she has a proper bedtime?”**

“There’s no issue! It’s just…” you trailed, suppressing a giggle. “You’re a big scary ghost who steals souls. It’s...unexpected.” 

**“Ah, so you’re just** **_assuming_ ** **that I’m completely heartless? Just because I’m dead?”**

“Hey,  _ you’re  _ the one who stole the soul of a child and then proceeded to fight her to the death.”

**“She told you about that?”**

“And  _ lost.”  _ You punctuated your sentence with a smirk. He blushed again, making an irritated choking sound. 

**“...What are** **_you_ ** **doing here anyway?”** He accused, crossing his arms. 

“ _ I– _ unlike you–was _ invited _ .” You stuck your tongue out at him, eliciting an indignant scoff.

**“I’m a** ** _ghost_** **, Peach.** **I can go wherever I** ** _want.”_**

“Oh yeah sure, I’m sure you can do  _ whatever _ you want, _ whenever _ you want and not have to worry for a  _ second  _ about the consequences!” 

**“And just** **_what–“_ ** He hissed into your face–  **“Are you getting at?”**

“ _ YOU…!”  _ You started again, the fire in your stomach burning brighter by the second. “Steal  _ souls! _ Did you forget that?! Or are you just having  _ SO MUCH  _ fun with your little  _ villain  _ charade that you’d rather keep  _ that  _ up than actually think about the  _ lives  _ of the people you toy with?!” 

**“I–“**

“YOU STOLE _HER_ SOUL! YOU STOLE **_MY_** SOUL!!” 

**“For crying out loud (Y/N)! Watch your volume! You’re gonna wake her up!”**

“And  _ I  _ told  **_YOU–!_ ** ” You shrieked, “TO WATCH  **_THIS!!!_ ** **”**

You pushed him, admittedly not very far. As he was still a ten-foot ghost who was used to taking heavy hits, but he still scowled. You were far past the point of harmless jeering, the  _ argument _ far beyond what it was originally about. And even if you wanted to, you couldn’t suppress the rage boiling in your chest, some of it due to Snatcher, and some of it from before that you just kept bottled up. Until now.

**“Okay. You know what?** **I am NOT going to sit here and get** ** _yelled at_** **by some wannabe WITCH who managed to stray a** ** _little_** **too far from their** ** _COVEN!!_** **”**

_ *CRACK!* _

The ship went silent. 

Snatcher huffed, thinking he had made his point according to your dumbfounded stare. It was only after a few minutes had passed before he realized you weren’t looking at him. You were just staring off into space, your silence oddly unnerving. 

**“What, got nothing to say? No witty remarks? No backhanded comments?”** He taunted, not entirely ready to give up his advantage in this little squabble. It seemed to snap you back into reality, as you looked down at your feet and clenched your trembling hands. 

He circled around you, attempting to parse some kind of reaction.  **“Aww what’s the matter, Peach? Did I strike a nerve~?”**

You flinched.

**“So I did! So what is it? Were you banished? Taboo magic? Harm another member?”**

“Get out.” 

He circled back around to face you, only to flinch back at what he saw. Your face was flushed red and your breathing had grown uneven, indicating you were on the brink of tears. But that’s not what surprised him. 

No, what surprised him, was that your eye were glowing a bright, luminescent green. 

**“Peach I–”**

“ _ Get. Out.” _

**“This isn’t your ship! You can’t–”**

**_“GO!!!!”_ **

In an instant, Snatcher was buffeted by a large gust of wind, slamming him into the far wall of the room. He looked up, rubbing the back of his neck when a small gasp escaped him. Tears streamed down your face like a waterfall, the green no longer constricted to your irises, but now taking up your scalera as well. 

He had crossed a line. 

You took a step forward, another gust of wind hit him, slamming him once again against the wall. Something took hold of him, a feeling he had worked over a century to steel himself against. Your hostile green eyes reminded him all too much of certain enraged red ones, of the accusatory scream of one he once held dear, and all he wanted in that moment; was out. 

He dove for the shadows, teleporting back to where he had come. And with him gone, your heartbeat slowed, the green in your eyes slowly retreating into your pupils until they were their normal color again. 

Until you realized what you had done. 

Dropping to your knees, you frantically started wiping away the tears that still spilled, broken sobs tumbling from your throat. Goddamn it, you did it again. This was  _ exactly _ what mom had warned you about. This is what she meant by weak, she meant your lack of control. Either not doing enough, or doing too much. 

The sound of an automatic door made you freeze, then quickly get up and adjust your posture when the sound of little footsteps became evident. 

“(Y/N)! I heard a bang! What happened?!” Hat Kid padded up, haphazardly donning her hat. Her eyes still dreary with sleep. 

“Everything’s...everything’s fine, kiddo!” You assured, cursing the small crack in your voice. You had years of practice in the art of lying, but lying to someone you  _ actually _ cared about...was going to be a little harder. 

“It was...just a comet.” 

“A...comet? But…you’re cryi–?”

“Yeah, just barely missed us. Some debris hit the ship and I fell over. No big deal.” 

At first, she didn’t really seem to believe you. Glancing back and forth rapidly from your face, still a little puffy from the tears, and the great expanse of space behind the main window.

“Oh…...well darn it!!” She threw her hat on the floor, making you flinch a little. “I can’t  _ believe  _ I missed a  _ comet! _ ” 

“Uh…yeah...tough luck…” Your stomach twisted. 

“That’s it! I’m never sleeping again!” 

You tsked, her childish irritation lightening your mood a little. You picked up her hat and set it on her head. “Yeah right, you’re still tired. Back to bed with you.” 

Despite her protests, you gently nudged her back through the door and into her room. 

“But what if I miss another comet??” She crawled back into her bed, staring at you pleadingly. 

“Two comets? In one night?” 

“Ok so it’s not likely, but  _ still.”  _

You pulled the blankets back up to her neck. A sigh escaping you as you set her hat on the nightstand once again. “How bout this: If I see another comet, I’ll  _ immediately  _ come get you, Okay?” 

She looked away, the cogs turning in her brain and the anxiety turning in yours. Then looking up at you with a little smile that filled you with a protective warm feeling. 

“Okay.”

You returned the smile, not shying away this time from tucking that stray strand of hair behind her ear. The look in her eyes at the action was a little sad, nostalgic even. But no less appreciative. 

You gave her one last pat on the head before turning out the light and walking back to lay down in the pillow pile, god knows you needed some sleep. 

The room was quiet for only a few moments before Hat Kid’s voice broke the silence.

“(Y/N)?”

“Yeah?” You whispered back in the pitch black of the room. 

“Are you okay?” 

The question did indeed create a pit of anxiety in your throat. Yet you already knew your answer.

Whatever burden you had, was not hers to bear. It was not for anyone but you, and you would keep it that way. 

“I’m fine.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Set Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You accept your next task

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew sorry for the super late update, been real busy with artfight and whatnot, but here it is!  
> As always, all feedback and critique is much appreciated!

**“Come on, there’s got to be** **_something…”_ **

Snatcher paced back and forth feverishly, leafing through a large book as he paced within his study. A large, arena-like area with a vat of bubbling, questionable green liquid in its center. The whole place located past the enormous chasm at the back of his forest, putting it far away from any possible prying eyes. It had also functioned as the arena they had used to fight the Hat Brat in, although, given how much of a _mess_ he was making, it could hardly be called an arena, much less a _study_. 

He leafed through another book, and then another. Each one pertaining to anything related to the subject of magic. When one had nothing of interest, they’d simply throw it onto a pile, before grabbing another one and repeating the process. 

He slammed _another_ book shut. _Magic and You: Beginner’s Edition_ , it was titled. Misleadingly, that is, as it had literally _nothing_ to do with _actual_ magic, but rather about cheap tricks and sleight of hand. Seriously, what a waste of time! Why learn trickery when you could learn the real thing? Some people just have no respect for the magical arts, it’s like they don’t even know it exists!

But... then again, here he was. Looking for books on the topic, because, frankly, all he knew of it was what he had learned from experience. Not to mention that all he _really_ knew was how to use it, not necessarily how it worked, for him or for others. So how could he know how _witch_ magic worked?

He had gone through hundreds of books, and the toil of such a methodical task was, honestly, getting to him. 

All for nothing, it seemed.

And a lightbulb went off.

Snatcher snapped his fingers. 

In an instant, he conjured a jar. Watching as a wispy little ball of a thousand colors zipped around wildly, ricocheting off the walls of the jar in a panicked, futile frenzy.

They held the jar closer to their face, observing it. Making note of the hints of lime green that stood out brightly through the near-psychedelic flame. 

As he did, its hysteria slowed to stop, noticing him, before retreating to the back of the jar in a vain attempt to put distance between itself and him. 

He grinned. 

**“Alright listen up.”** He started, **“I’m going to let you out for a second, but if you even** **_think_ ** **about running. You can say goodbye to your pathetic little existence, got it?”**

The soul, of course, didn’t respond _._ It didn’t even give any indication of a nod, but… it did relax a little, moving to the center of the jar. 

That was… strange. You had been nothing but difficult when it came to taking orders this whole time. Shouldn’t your soul reflect that? Or– maybe this just another _grandiose_ show of over-confidence that you had grown accustomed to responding to his threats with. Either way, it was irritating, _you_ were irritating. 

_All the more reason to understand you_. 

N-not in a “oh you’re interesting and cool!” kind of way. Definitely not like that, more like a “if I have to take you down at a moment's notice, I’m gonna be smart about it and identify your weaknesses first” kind of way. Obviously.

He unscrewed the lid of the jar and tipped it over, the little soul tumbling out into his hand, shaking slightly. As he held it up, he could sense immense aura wafting off of the little lifelight. 

Resentment, hope, regret, sorrow, anger, fear–

He flinched back, that...that's a _lot_ of emotions, was this really what you felt on a daily basis? Why? 

_‘-some wannabe WITCH who managed to stray a_ little _too far from their_ COVEN!! _’_

They cringed from their own words. 

Did... these feelings of yours have something to do with your aforementioned coven? I mean, how could he have known that would be such a sore subject for you?! And it wasn’t like _he_ was the only guilty party, _you_ were the one who yelled first, _and_ said a lot of things that were pretty sore for _him_ as well…

Agh, but that was no excuse.

**“Now…”** He closed his eyes, tapping into the soul’s memories as best he could, he was a little rusty at it after all.

**“You’re gonna show me what I want to know…”**

A flash of memories and emotions hit them like an Owl Express. Instances and information flitting by his vision faster than he could process as familiar and unfamiliar emotions hit him like various consecutive gut punches.

He doubled over, dropping the soul onto the ground as his claws found their way to his temples, attempting to stem the tears that weren’t his. 

**“O...okay…”** They strained, recovering from the sudden mental attack, soooo that wouldn’t work. Seems he was rustier at soul-tapping than he thought, frustrating, but not surprising. He’d just have to try again another time. 

He reached a hand out to take back the soul, only to hesitate.

It shook, as much as a soul could, it shook. The very core of a being’s person, of _your_ person, _and it shook_. 

He had forgotten, for him to see your memories, would be to subject you to them as well. Though he could guess that you had a bit more _clarity_ to them than he did. 

**“H-hey now…”** They stammered, gently cupping your little spirit in their claws. A little out of character for them, but darn it, souls were fragile things, and he could _not_ afford to break this one. 

Thank goodness your soul and body weren’t close enough to be connected in that moment. You having a meltdown in their forest was the _last thing_ they wanted right now, not because they cared, _gods_ no he didn’t. But just think of the damage you could cause–!

A mental tug pulled him from his thoughts, not the kind that indicated when one of his traps went off, but of the presence of a contractor. He looked back down at your soul, now calm, yet still, and he frowned. He had _never_ felt bad about subjecting contractors to anything painful in the past, be it psychological or physical, but this...this was different…

You could be a potential threat. 

Perhaps even as much of a threat as _her._

That’s why he needed to know. He had only ever seen magic used by spirits and… whatever _she_ was anymore, definitely not a human that’s for sure. 

But you were _alive_ , and if your reaction was anything to go by, you had the potential to become just like her, given you were provoked. 

Another tug. Another prod. 

He dropped the soul back into the jar, quickly screwing the lid back on before it could make any last minute attempts. Holding it to his face again as a tired, mischievous little smile spread across his lips. 

_Tug._

**“At least this means I can have you do the more difficult contracts now, Peach.”**

————————————————————

_Tap tap tap tap tap._

You leaned against the entrance of Snatcher’s tree, the impatient tapping of your nails the only sound amid the strained quiet. To be honest, the tapping was bothering Hat Kid a little bit. She was sat on Snatcher’s ottoman, fidgeting around with the two dolls she always kept with her. 

Snatcher wasn’t ever late, if anything, he had a nasty habit of being in the right place at the wrong time (and vice versa), often becoming more of an inconvenience to others than to himself (which was always intentional). So for them to be late, or even not show up at all? That was concerning. 

“I’m sure he’ll be here soon.” Hat Kid encouraged, trying to lighten the dour mood, you scoffed.

“Oh he can take his sweet time.” You grumbled, not looking at her. “He’s got an eternity, so surely I must too, right?” 

She didn’t bother gracing your sarcasm with a response. She simply rolled her eyes and went back to playing with her dolls. Not like she expected you two to get along anyways. Snatcher was a tough nut to crack and, by the looks of it, you were as well. 

You just needed time, both of you did. 

Hat Kid perked up. The room had gotten colder, only a smidgen, just _barely_ noticeable, but just as familiar. She opened her mouth to call out–

“Took you long enough.” You interrupted, surprising her that you had noticed the change in temperature at all, even through your thick coat. Or even put together that it was him. 

The room dimmed and the shadows shifted, your own shadow stretching unnaturally across the floor and onto the wall. A mischievous fanged smile spread across where your shadow’s face would be and the Snatcher pulled themself from the darkness as if he had been stuck in the wall. 

He clapped his claws together, and the room resumed its natural atmosphere. 

Its natural, bitter, atmosphere.

**“(Y/N).”**

“Snatcher.”

Hat Kid swallowed, unnerved by the extreme tension that boiled between you two like thin strings pulled taught, ready to snap at even the slightest provocation. Did something happen between you two? She didn’t even think you two talked much outside of work. 

A contract appeared in front of your face, guess we’re jumping straight to the point huh?

Hat Kid scrambled over to look at it as you read it over with careful consideration. She eyed Snatcher, questioning. 

“Kill _thirty_ spiders?” 

**“Been having some problems with overpopulation recently. ”** He stated, casually examining his claws. **“And while I enjoy the occasional arachnid, I draw the line at _anyone_ messing with my minions…”**

You suppressed the laugh in your throat, you easily could have made some snarky comment about him pretending to have a conscience, but you held back. It wasn’t worth it to get worked up this early in the morning (not that those existed around here).

“Fine, whatever.” You shrugged, snatching the quill pen out of the air and signing your name.

Hat Kid sighed and hopped off the ottoman, dusting off her dress as she threw her starry blue umbrella over her shoulder with a self-determined smile. 

“Alright! Let’s go!” 

**“Ah ah ah! Not so fast kiddo! This is something they have to do …”** he glanced over at you, grinning a little sharper. **“ _Alone._ ”**

You glared. 

**“Besides! More fire spirits have popped up here and there, and I want you to take care of them!”**

“Aw what? But I deal with fire spirits all the time! Can’t you do it?” 

He laughed, mussing up her hair and hat. **“Sorry Kiddo! But if you wanna keep coming back to my forest without _consequences,_ you gotta do your part!”**

“Pfft! You couldn’t even hit a spider if it dropped down in front of you!” She taunted, blowing raspberries at him. 

They went back and forth, slinging joking insults and taunts at each other. It was…cute, endearing even. 

…….huh

She...

She had gotten her soul back from him in the end, hadn’t she?

After a fight, yes, but… he had willingly given it to her (sort of) and considering how much she seemed to come back. He could just as easily take it again. 

But he hadn’t.

The corners of your mouth twisted into a small, sad frown as you gazed at them, guilt settling. 

You caught Snatcher’s eyes.

You made eye contact.

You looked away. 

**“Ahem, anyway– “** He coughed into his hand, awkwardly pushing Hat Kid away. **“Better step to it, Peach! You too kiddo!”**

Hat Kid gawked, but he already realized his mistake, and braced themself. 

“Peach?!?” 

**“Off you go now!”** He snapped his fingers, teleporting you elsewhere. 

The scent of burning wood immediately filled your nostrils. 

You were in the ever-burning part of the forest, admittedly not very far from Snatcher’s tree where you just were, but already you could see what he meant by “over-population”. 

Spider webs were quite literally _everywhere_ , and naturally you’d think that spiders of any kind would stay well away from flames, but they didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. Looking up into the branches you could see _hundreds_ of the large arachnids, in webs, dangling from threads, or skittering up and down trees. 

It was quite horrifying, to put it simply. 

Welp, the contract said you only needed to kill thirty, you brandished your wand, your wind magic picking up and circling you like the beginnings of a tornado as you walked confidently over to an infested tree. 

“Let’s get to work.” 

You shot into the air. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Hiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you don't suffer from arachnophobia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for detailed descriptions of gore, blood, etc. Nothin too serious though

“Snaaaaatch!!!!” 

Snatcher startled, looking up from his book to see a very  _ fast _ approaching little girl, quickly turning the small genuine smile that had initially formed into a grumble as he buried his face in his book.

“ **Geez kiddo, you’re getting quick at these…** ” they mumbled, looking over the top of their book to watch Hat Kid as she excitedly bounded up onto the arm of the chair with practiced ease. 

“Pfff please, killing fire spirits is nothing compared to the other stuff you’ve had me do.” 

“ **Fair, fair.”** He chuckled.

“So! Anything else need doin’?” 

“ **Well...technically yes, but–** ” He booped her on the nose, making her giggle– “ **Those tasks aren’t for you.** ”

Hat stuck her tongue out at him, comfortably settling down on the arm as Snatcher resumed his reading and her thoughts wandering elsewhere.

She could probably guess that (Y/N) wasn’t done with their contract yet. No way they’d be able to get a task like that done in the time that she could kill a few measly sprites. She pretty much speed-ran them, could’ve even been a new best time had she bothered to time herself. Darn, she’d have to ask Snatch to do that next time. 

Her eyes drifted over to the Snatcher’s book, a tiny smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. It was one of the new ones she had gotten them, a little murder-mystery novel. She could feel a slight wave of relief wash over her, Hat Kid didn’t  _ quite  _ know what kinda stuff he liked to read, since–y’know–she’d only ever seen him read  _ one  _ book. That dumb “How to Kill Kids” book that she was she was pretty was only for show. So–! She just got him a whole ton of genres. 

Not that she had a penchant for reading. Oh no not at all, it’s just when she saw that empty bookshelf in his home, she had the bright idea of filling it up for him. Being contractually bound BFF’s didn’t just mean he had to promise not to kill her, Hat also had an end she had to fill (not that it bothered her any.) So, with some help from Cooking Cat she picked out a  _ ton _ of new reading material for the grumpy-gus, and he seemed to take pretty well to it. 

“ _ Sooo…” _ She mused, lounging back and drawing a suspicious eye from Snatcher.

“Peach, huh?” 

He scoffed, a light dusting of yellow adorning his cheeks. “ **Oh be quiet. It’s none of your business anyway.** ”

“I know! It’s just–!” 

“ **Just** **_what?_ ** ”

She paused, grinning smugly. 

“You like them, don’t you?”

He slammed his book shut, eyes wide and staring at her as if she had just claimed she was the new leader of the nyakuza, and the yellow “dusting” from before had totally gone into overdrive. The whole display absolutely  _ sent  _ Hat Kid, rolling back into a fit of laughter that almost made her lose balance and fall off the chair.

“ **Why you little** **_brat!_ ** ” Snatcher shouted with an irritated smile. He reached to grab her but missed just slightly as she hopped off the arm with a squeal of delight

Hat Kid booked it out of the tree, somersaulting over the vines that lead up to it and running out into the forest. The Snatcher not that far behind, his claws trailing with his signature blue flames. 

Hat Kid glanced back as she ran, a smiling ecstatically until she slammed into something hard and brambly. Stumbling back onto the ground rubbing her cheek in pain. Long, purple vines had raised out of the ground directly in her path, surrounding her in a circle after she had taken notice of them, plunging her into that familiar purple-black void that she wasn’t sure was real or some kind of mind trick. Either way, she was trapped.

“ **Hehehehe…** ” Snatcher’s condescending snickers echoed through the realm, his voice low and dark. “ **You think you can make fun of me, kid? And not face any consequences?** ”

“Oh I don’t  _ think _ I can…” she grinned, digging her grave even deeper. 

“I  _ know  _ I can.” 

A white ring slowly encircled her, the ground itself pulsating with growing electricity. 3, 2, 1–

She dove out of the way of the pillar of purple and black flames that blasted forth like a geyser, landing square on her feet as the dimensional illusion dissipated. Snatcher nowhere in sight when the forest focused back into view. 

The game was on. 

She stood stone still. The suffocating quiet of the forest filling her ears as she focused, listening, waiting for that tell-tale “wind-up” movement that would dictate her next move, but the only thing that whistled was the wind.

Rather fast whistling if you ask me.

A gentle “hup!” sound escaped her as she dove once again. A shattering crash resounding behind her as tiny blue acid droplets splashed onto her cape. Not enough to hurt, obviously, but that was a close call regardless. 

“And here I thought you learned your lesson about the potions!” She taunted, not bothering to face wherever he was. 

“ **What can I say!** ” Snatcher’s booming voice echoed somewhere in the craggily canopy of the forest, she caught sight of their two yellow eyes peering out from the shadows. His snake-like coiled around a tree as he grinned at her from behind a branch.

“ **_Old habits die hard! AAHAHAHAHAHA!!_ ** ” 

She’d be fine, this was normal, it would take a bit of adapting, obviously, but she’d be fine.

Hat Kid just hoped the same would be true for you. 

————————

The violent hiss filled your ears, large insectoid claws nearly tearing your coat sleeve clean off.

So the original plan had been thrown a little off-track. Though, honestly what else could you expect? You were up against hundreds of spiders, even if you only had to kill thirty, you were clearly outnumbered. 

Originally, you thought this contract was going to be a breeze. Since the spiders of Subcon would just dangle from their silk and only attack those that got close.

But that wasn’t the case here. Because as soon as you killed your first spider, it was as if you had lit a beacon. Except instead of it being a beacon signaling for help, it was a beacon signaling your  _ doom.  _ As every single spider within a fifty-foot radius looked at you.

And crawled down from their webs.

Now,  _ you _ were the one on the defensive. Frantically hopping from stump to low branch to rock just trying to avoid the  _ swarm  _ of arachnids hissing and biting at your feet. Belting out spell after spell in a desperate attempt to save your own skin.

You attempted to jump onto the top of a large stone wall from a high tree branch, but you didn’t jump far enough, and only managed to grab onto the ledge with a hand. Grasping at it as you pulled yourself onto it as fast as your sore muscles allowed. After half your body was on it, a sharp stinging pain shot through your leg, you had heavily scraped your shin against the sharp edge of the stone, a good layer of skin peeled away and beads of blood were already starting to form from the red abrasion. It wouldn’t take long for the spiders to start scaling the wall, so you had to work fast. 

Your hand dove into your backpack, wildly searching for bandages, the distant sound of hissing clicks steadily getting closer and the beating of your heart steadily growing faster.

You pulled out the bandages, recklessly pulling a strip free and tying it tight around your leg, a growled cry escaping your teeth at the sting.

Adrenaline was the only thing keeping you alive at this point, the feeling of intense fatigue and exhaustion from overuse of magic had taken hold of you long ago, and frankly you had lost count of how many spiders you had cut and blasted through. The swamp was a mercy compared to this, why was this so much harder?! Was–

Was he mad at you? Did he know this would happen? Did he purposely mean to get you killed? 

_ ‘Of course, of course he did you idiot. He’s a soul-snatching ghost for gods’ sake!’  _

You tied the bandage into a knot with a little too much force, a bit too tight. You didn’t have time to fix it now though.

_ ‘And don’t forget what you said, what you  _ did’

“My gods, shut  _ up.” _ You muttered, not wanting to deal with these  _ stupid  _ thoughts. 

You stood on shaky legs, overlooking the– oh dear god. 

A  _ mass _ of spiders was on both sides of the wall. Trapping you between a rock and a–well– _ buggy  _ place. (Although, spiders aren’t technically bugs but WHATEVER) Seconds away from joining you at the top. But it seemed that something else would reach you first.

Your head swung around at the sound of a hiss directly behind you, a spider swinging through the air on a strand of silk, most likely with the intent to knock you off the wall and to your death. You raised your arms, bracing yourself. 

  
  


Something wet splattered across your arms.

You slowly looked up, the spider, which was about to crash into you and send you falling into the venomous crowd below, was now cut clean in half, directly down the cephalothorax. It’s blood splattering your arms and its innards on a disturbing display before you as time seemed to move in slow motion.

You swear you saw something red, bright red. 

Another hiss behind you brought you out of your daze, the other arachnids from before had finally caught up with you. One of which was grabbing and pulling at your shoe with its mandibles from over the edge, it even pulled you off balance, and you crashed onto the top of the wall, but still firmly holding onto it while it continued to pull. 

This time, you heard it, the slicing sound and the release of the pull on your shoe. What in the world was going on? You only managed a glance at the red... _ something  _ that whipped through the air, weaving through and into spiders with quick, serpentine movements.

Your breath hitched in your throat when something began to pull you up onto the wall again, pressure wrapping around both your forearms like–

Like  _ strings _ .

“Eh-MJ??”

The strands pulled you up onto your feet, gently pushing and pulling you to make sure you were balanced and wouldn’t fall. All the strands save for one retreated, and you watched as they zoomed back up into the sky and out of sight. 

You focused your attention on the lone string, some unknown emotion bubbling in your throat.

“T-thank you…” 

It nodded, as best as a string could nod, and gestured for you to look down below. 

  
  


They were dead.

Not all of them, but most of them, sliced in half or completely impaled by the red threads, and the others that had escaped such a fate skittered off into the darkness. A reverent quiet befell you.

“I...uh…” You stammered, but paused when you felt more strands wrapping themselves around your waist, and your arms. Carefully lifting you up and down from the wall, then quickly unraveling.

When you turned, the strings were already a few paces away, weaving and looping into...

A message, a message of loopy cursive letters that glowed a bright red against the night sky.

_ “Don’t tell him about me.” _

You gulped, and nodded.

And just like that, they retreated up back into the sky, leaving you alone in the now-quiet Forest. You ran an exhausted hand through your hair, turning to overlook the arachnid massacre and sigh.

It was gonna be hell explaining this mess. 


	10. Reconsider?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woof sorry for such a long hiatus! Writer's block is a beast.

He couldn’t believe this.

Snatcher looked you over. Your bruised and battered form swaying back and forth slightly as you stared tiredly at the ground. The bandage on your leg heavily splotched, allowing small drops of blood to slowly drip down onto the floor. 

He looked down again at your contract. The terms of which were highlighted in yellow and stamped, as it was automatically set to do upon completion. They had no reason to doubt, none at all, and even if he did. It was already said and done, if not a bit quicker than he was expecting. 

Snatcher raised an eyebrow, glaring you down in suspicion. They could question you on the honesty of your work ethic, but in the end, did he really care? It was a relatively simple contract, not too difficult, but certainly not easy. 

A weak cough drew his attention away from the contract, to which he responded with a more awkward one. 

**"So…"** He snapped away the paper, leaning back in his chair to watch you intently. Twirling a quill pen around in his claws.

**"** **How** **did you find the contract?"**

You blinked, and for a second, he wasn’t sure if you had heard him.

“s’fine I guess.” You shrugged, looking around aimlessly, but still clutching your bruised arm. 

The claw that rested on the arm of the chair tightened. **"Fine? You didn’t find it difficult? Terrifying? You weren’t scared out of your wits?"**

“That’s a couple ways of putting it.” You chuckled, a brief sound. 

He rubbed his face in exasperation. The bluntness of your responses made his attempts at light conversation annoying. Not that he needed to, it was just politeness, because even if you were _his_ servant. They had not forgotten his manners in the time since his…you know... 

**"Tell you what–"** he leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands.

**"Go dress your wounds, take a break, eat, do whatever it is you mortals do, and meet me back here in two hours for your next job."**

“Break...?” You mumbled, still staring off into space.

**"Hey hey!** ” The snaps of his claws in your face grabbed your attention from wherever it was wondering off to. “ **Pay attention! You’re not allowed to check out till I don’t need you anymore!"**

“Right, right…” You mumbled, completely and obviously out of it.

Stupid humans and their _stupid_ fragility. Was it even worth it to keep you around to do the menial tasks if you required this much effort? Defeated the purpose of a servant if you asked him.

He snapped his fingers, two red orbs with hearts in them appeared in front of you, landing in his palm which he held out expectantly.

**"Here, these should** ** _at least_** **keep you from passing out on my floor.** **Now take them and** ** _go.”_**

You stared for a moment, testing his already thin patience. He gestured at the pons with a tilt of his head, finally convincing you to reach out, only to hesitate centimeters from making contact with them. 

Really? Talk about paranoid. (Though he was one to talk.) 

They scowled, opening his mouth to scold you. Instead, the words died on his tongue, halted by the hesitant, fearful eyes you met him with.

“I...can take these? You’re not...being sarcastic? Or testing me?” Your outstretched hand fell to fidget with your nails as you stared at him like a deer in the headlights. As if asking such a simply stupid question would make him furious.

He felt a twinge. It was painful, and made him sick to his (nonexistent) stomach. Their next actions they chose carefully, but not too much as they were already quite tired of thinking, and decided impulse would do. 

He took up one of your hands, training his eyes on yours. Your fearful expression quickly changing into one of pure confusion. They could certainly regret this later, as his mind was already screaming at him for each inch that he moved, each second he kept his eyes fixed on yours. But he had many regrets, might as well add it to the pile. 

Compared to his, your hands were so...small...and fragile, warm and delicate. Or maybe, compared to other humans at least, they could be considered rough and cold. But to him, to this–tired, old spirit of a prince–they were the softest, warmest things he had felt in a while. 

He placed the pons in your palm. It was awkward, as you needed to bring up your other hand so they wouldn’t fall, and only when he was sure you wouldn’t drop them, did he let go. 

**"Take a break."** He affirmed, He could probably guess how strange this must’ve looked, coming from him. He probably looked nothing like that indifferent, heartless demon you had come to know and probably hate by now.

You gave a small nod, returning his stare with your own as you nervously swallowed.

He cleared his throat, backing up when he noticed just how close he had gotten to you and brushed absentmindedly at the fluff on his neck, a tiny hue of yellow tinting his face.

**"Two hours."**

In normal circumstances, he would’ve instantly disappeared, phasing through the floor or into the shadows. Not this time though, as he simply looked at you expectantly.

“Okay.” You murmured, holding the pons closer to your chest. 

————————

You spread your arms out to catch your balance, carefully taking step after step up the strange vine that functioned as the walkway into Snatcher’s tree. Then spinning on your heel upon reaching the top and walking back down. Repeating the process in a gesture of pure boredom as you awaited the said specter, mind wandering elsewhere. 

Bit of an inconvenient walkway, wasn’t it? Probably made it hard for his less dexterous contractors to make it inside. Although, this was Subcon after all, and he probably didn’t expect to have enough visitors to bother making it _convenient._ Sure did add some flair to the whole “spooky ghost” facade though, you had to commend them for that. 

Aesthetic criticisms aside, while the self-proclaimed ruler himself was a bit of an annoying dork. Subcon itself wasn’t too bad. If you ignore the spiders, freaky headless statues, and random minions hanging from nooses (apparently napping), that is. 

You walked back up the vine, sighing and sitting down on the edge of the entryway and pulling out your phone with the intent of scrolling through social media, but apparently your wifi had other plans in mind. So you opted to scroll through your saved photos instead. 

You scrolled to the photo of Hat Kid’s holographic map. 

The reminder of what you had to do resurfaced, creating a mental checklist of what and how to do this.

  1. Get into and through the frost zone without Snatcher, Hattie, or any subconites from seeing you.
  2. Sneak around into the Manor without encountering Vanessa, who you were pretty sure wasn’t at all partial to visitors.
  3. _Then find some book you weren’t even one hundred percent certain existed._



Then somehow get it to Moonjumper? A person you only ever saw _in your dreams?_

...Yeah, this was insane. 

But alas, you were the one who had walked into Subcon in the first place. An insane action in and of itself, so at this point, you were pretty much obligated to deal with the insanity of this entire situation. 

**"Didn’t realize you were a photographer."** A voice piped up directly in your ear.

Your phone was shoved instantly into your pocket in panic, turning to shoot daggers at the large ghost who was chuckling at your reaction. 

“You just _love_ doing that don’t you?” 

**"Rule number nine of my forest, sweetheart–“**

They shot you a grin, simultaneously finger-gunning you as you squinted at the new nickname.

**"Don’t let your guard down."**

“Ha, riiiiiight.” 

You rolled your eyes, waltzing up to the side of his chair as he settled into it and snapped open a book.

“Why number nine?”

**"Eh."** he shrugged, **"Just seemed like a good number for it."**

“And the other eight rules?”

**"I’ll figure those out later."**

You attempted to suppress the laugh that escaped you, but to no avail. It only resulted in you covering your mouth as you smiled and looked away from Snatcher. 

“So, ahem, next job?” 

**"Hm? Oh right! Nearly forgot~"** Apparently he had been staring at something over your shoulder when you were laughing. Shaking his head as if to clear it before snapping his fingers. A contract materialized in his claws, carelessly handing it to you. A glint of mischief in his glowing yellow eyes. 

**"You’re a witch aren’t you? This next task should be a breeze!"**

You skimmed over the paper, suspicion and unease creeping its way into your stomach at his little comment. Why would–

…

“You want me to–?”

**"Mhm!"** He hummed, placing his head in his claws as he watched you. **"Thought it’d be a nice challenge for you."**

He shoved a clawed finger at you, causing you to stumble back a bit. **"Which I’m** **_sure_ ** **you can handle, right?"**

“I-I. Well I–“ You stammered, trying to express your hesitancy through incredulous facial expressions alone. 

“Well sure I can brew it but–can’t you make them yourself?”

**"You seem to misunderstand the point of these contracts…"** They squinted at you, and you stammered to rephrase.

“N-no I mean like–you have–you can create stuff can’t you? Like on a whim? W-why…”

You stepped back when his eyes didn’t change.

“...Why do you need me to make potions you could make anytime you wanted?”

His shit-eating grin turning somehow even more shit-eating. 

**"Call it an experiment."**

“Experime-?

**"Alright that’s enough questions!"** Snatcher clapped his hands. **"The day isn’t over yet, but you’re still on a time crunch.** **So you better step to it…"**

He leaned in, their head beside yours. Getting excruciatingly close, his tone a deep whisper that sent a shiver down your spine as his chilled breath rolled over your skin. 

**_"Peach."_ **

You shot back, intentionally taking a few steps back as you unintentionally hugged the contract in your hands closer. The heat rising to your cheeks completely contrasting the indignant, embarrassed, and wide-eyed stare you shot at them. 

Snatcher hummed, settling back down in his chair as if _that_ was just a normal thing that people did. 

**"And another thing–“** he stared, bringing his book back up, pretending to read–

**"You’ll be getting some help this time around."**

“Help?” Technically, you had gotten help _last tim_ e too. Of course, it was probably for the best that you kept that tidbit of information to yourself. 

“From who?”

The world around you became enveloped in a swirling mass of neon colors, before making way for an inky void that made your body feel weightless.

**"You’ll see."** Snatcher’s voice echoed as the feeling of falling took hold of you, briefly inspiring panic that was snuffed when your shoes made contact with something hard and solid. The smell of burning acid filled your nostrils. 


	11. Experiment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can't he just make things a little easier? For once?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear things will be happening soon, very important things. In the mean time have some mild dadtcher

The black inky void melted away, and you had to blink a few times to regain your bearings. Though, there wasn’t much to bear, aside from the pure corrosive heat that bubbled in a pool of acidic green liquid.

Your shoes clicked against the stone floor as you took a step back, around you, stone walls surrounded the area in the shape of a large circular room, like the broken base of a large tower. Now repurposed into some kind of study, as books, desks, and shelves stacked with withering old papers now lined the cracked half-walls. Candles of varying sizes burned idly in random places.

“Heya Newbie!”

Casey waved from a portion of the wall, a book was laid out in their lap, though a bit too big for their little hands to hold comfortably. Li was leaned up against the same bit of wall, simply watching dwellers spin and twirl within the cages that hung overhead.

Two claws found their way to your shoulders, the sudden cold touch making you jump and shiver in the same breath. His whispered, haunting voice following quickly after.

**“I heard you’ve gotten acquainted with a few of my minions. So who better to help you with your work?”**

“What’s the catch?” You responded at a similar volume through a smirk. 

He released his grip on your shoulders, briefly smirking at you as he passed by. Flying over to gaze into bubbling acid, bits of shadow trailed behind his tail as he moved. 

**“Have you really so little faith in me, dear (Y/N)? Did you ever stop to think that, while my contracts are indeed difficult, they** **_are_ ** **still fair?”**

“Fair enough to be possible, but never easy.”

**“I never said they would be.”**

“You don’t say a lot of things.”

He shifted slightly, and whatever rebuttal he had died on his tongue. 

**“I’ll know when you’re done.”** He turned, facing you fully with his signature neutral smile.  **“So try not to blow yourself up in the process!”**

And with that, he was gone.

You let out a sigh, one you didn’t know you had been holding, as you turned to begin the task with your designated helpers. 

“Alright, so how do we make these blue potions?”

Casey made an ‘I don’t know’ sound with a shrug. You looked at them dead in the eye.

“You...don’t know?”

“We’re not really supposed to know any of the Boss’s secrets.”

“Well then how am I supposed to…?” You looked between the two of them, absolutely lost on what to do. This was it wasn’t it? The catch that you  _ knew _ was going to come with this contract, one way or another. Well fine, if he wanted you to experiment. 

By god were you gonna experiment. 

—————————————-

“Make blue potions?” Hat kid looked up from her drawing, raising an eyebrow.

**“Mhm!”** He hummed, still looking down at his book, the smug smile that crept onto his face obviously showing he wasn’t paying much attention to the words.  **“Devilish little task, if I do say so myself.”**

“Howzat?” 

He stifled a chuckle, placing his book aside.  **“Those ‘blue potions’ aren’t easy to make by traditional means…”**

Hattie pinched the bridge of her nose, already seeing where this was going. 

**“So imagine how much harder it’s gonna be with no recipe!”** He laughed. 

“What happened to your contracts being ‘fair’?” She went back to her drawing after rolling her eyes, switching her blue crayon out for a purple one.

**“That’s the fun part!”** A contract unfurled from whatever pocket dimension he kept it in, your name signed at the bottom the most prominent thing in the paper. He pointed to the terms at the top.

**“It simply says,** **_‘try_ ** **to make me some of my potions!’ I don’t actually care if they can’t figure it out, I just wanted to see how far they’d get!”**

“So it’s a useless contract.” 

He gave an offended gasp, feigning a tone of hurt.  **“I wouldn’t ever give a victim of mine a contract for no** **_reason_ ** **! And besides–”** he bent down to meet Hat Kid on the floor, giving the rim of her hat a flick that made her flinch.

**“You went through all those** **_Death Wishes._ ** **Those didn’t have much reason behind them, yet you still did them.”**

“You were giving out prizes! How could I not?” She rolled onto her back, looking at him upside down with a childish giggle. Snatcher rolled his eyes. 

**“Anyway, it’s been an hour or two. Should probably go check on them, maybe they managed to disintegrate themself. Sure would make my job easier.”** He got up and stretched, although he had no bones  _ to  _ stretch. It was part force of habit, and part theatrics. 

“Wait!” Hat Kid rolled back onto her stomach, frantically finishing her drawing. “Ya gotta look at my drawing first.”

**“What? And why would I bother–”**

She cut him off by stuffing the paper in his face, too close for him to actually make out what it was until he basically had to pry her from his head. Holding her out with both claws.

**“Okay okay okay! What–?”**

He stared at the paper Hat Kid held proudly between her hands. It’s quality was that of a child’s, obviously, and he would’ve made fun of her for it. That is, if she had chosen a different topic for her piece.

It was a drawing of a little girl, with a purple dress and hat. Happily holding the hand of a stranger.

Well, not necessarily a stranger, but not anyone he knew. Not anymore. The purple boots, red and purple jacket, and brown hair that curled up at the edges; just looking at that person. That  _ fool _ ...

Hattie lowered the drawing, looking over the top at Snatcher with a lopsided smile. He knew she knew what she was doing, he knew about the storybook, he knew she knew. 

**“Looks great, kiddo.”** He sighed, reluctantly patting her head.

She scooted forward onto his lap, wrapping her tiny arms around his midriff, and as usual; he attempted to push her off, scowling and fluffing up in embarrassment all the while.

**“Alright, that’s enough kiddo, It’s not like I’m giving you an award.”**

“You gonna go now?” 

He nodded, picking her up and setting her down on the floor next to her pile of crayons. 

**“Have to, otherwise this whole test would’ve been for nothing.”**

“Test?”

Ah nuts, he hadn’t meant for that bit to be audible. Eh, she’d find out on her own sooner or later anyway. She was stubborn like that when it came to secrets,  _ annoyingly _ stubborn. 

**“You’ll figure it out, besides–”** He sunk into the ground, melding with the flickering shadows of the room.    
  
****

**“Where’s the fun in just telling?”**   



	12. Tacenda

Snatcher floated out from the shadows, now in front of the entrance to his “study”. Casually whistling as he approached your workspace.

He wondered how you were faring at his little “test”, as he had said before, he didn’t expect you to figure it out. It’s a very,  _ very _ special recipe after all, he’d figured out how to make it with his magic, but to create it from scratch...you’d actually need something  _ from  _ him to do it. As a matter of fact; he’d be more concerned if you  _ did  _ know what to do, you’d essentially  _ fail  _ the test if you did.

But that was super unlikely to begin with. Hey! Maybe they could tease you with consequences for “failing” the contract. 

“ _ Watch out!”  _

Their eyes popped open at your call of alarm, just in time to see you bolting in his direction.

**“What on earth is—?”**

“Get down!” 

Now, if he could breath, your sudden collision directly with his torso would’ve surely knocked all the air out of him. Luckily for him, he doesn’t, so he didn’t have to worry about that. No, all he had to worry about was his head bouncing off the ground when he made contact with it.

He shook off the vertigo and attempted to get back up, but you had a fierce hold on him. Holding both of you behind the short stone walls of the arena/study.

**“(Y/N)! What did you—!“**

He was cut off by an ear-shattering explosion, far too close for comfort. The ground itself shook with a violent tremor from the force of the blast alone. He had instinctually assumed a fetal position when the sound hit his senses and what little parts of his enormous form that weren’t shielded by the stone wall could feel even the sheer force of wind that had resulted. 

The silence that followed the blast was eerie in deafening kind of way, a stark contrast from the sensory assault just seconds ago. After what felt like forever, they peeked open an eye.

His first instinct, of course, was to ask what the  _ hell _ that was, and he would’ve, if his stomach had not dropped at what he saw.

He was over you, apparently he had,  _ reflexively,  _ covered you in a protective hold. You were curled up onto the ground as well, and hadn’t even seemed to notice what he did. They shot up and away from you like you were a ball of hot lava, their face flushing and practically turned them into a glowing lemon in the process.

It took you a little longer to lift your head, and he noted just how much more cautious you were about it. 

“SNATCH?”

He flinched at your sudden yell, the explosion must’ve messed up your ears. 

**“Cool it! I’m right here!”**

You looked up at him, and shrieked with delight, once again causing the poor ghost to flinch at the high volume. 

“AHAHAHAHAAA!! DID YOU SEE THAT?!” You yelled pretty much straight in his face, and he wondered which was louder; the explosion, or you. 

**“Yes. I very much did! But what—”**

“ _ MAN _ those cherry bombs really pack a punch! The seeds even more so! 

**“(Y/N)—”**

Too bad that dweller got too close to them, I really thought grinding up the seeds would work. Though, from what Hattie told me, they’re more acidic rather than explodey, right?

**“** **_(Y/N)—_ **

“And that was just from grinding up a few! Imagine the kind of result we’d get from—!”

**“** **_(Y/N)!”_ **

Snatcher’s booming voice interrupted your rambling as he grabbed your shoulders to turn you to face him. Obviously catching you off guard, but he could feel your heart still pumping rapidly with adrenaline. 

An awkward silence befell the both of you, they stared with a sense of seriousness he was not used to expressing.

**“You….grinded up cherry bomb seeds?”**

A rather ridiculous question to lead with, but it was the only full sentence his mind could form. You grinned again, a wild smile that probably made him turn even more yellow. 

“I know right?!” 

He stared, claws still tightly gripping your shoulders. He took in your still somehow excited expression, you had almost gotten blown up. Which he, albeit jokingly, had told you specifically  _ not  _ to do. 

He burst out into wild laughter, releasing your shoulders. He crossed his arms over his chest, holding himself as he keeled over. It wasn’t like the usual “evil” laughter he used for his suffering victims. No, this laughter came from the chest, it spread all over his body, making him light-headed and left him genuinely wheezing for air he didn’t need. The longer they laughed, the more delighted they felt.

Apparently it was contagious, as you joined in after a few seconds of staring at him in disbelief. The both of you laughing insanely at the destruction you had caused, there were tears beginning to fall from his face. 

After about five minutes, the both of you were just a pile of giggles and snorts on the ground. With Snatcher still trying to calm themself while you laid back against his big noodly body, wiping the tears from your cheeks.

**“You dummy! Making potions out of** **_bombs?_ ** **What made you think** **_that_ ** **would work?”** He snickered. 

“Hey! I tried everything else already! Give me points for creativity at least!” 

**“HAH! How about points for creating a mini nuke?”**

“No! Creativity!” 

You prodded his side, he jerked but started up laughing again, spurring on your own laughter even further. His throat hurt, but he didn’t care. 

**“Pfff, alright alright, five points to you.”**

“Oh come on! More than that! I nearly got blown up!” 

You were still lying against his side while he lied on the ground. This was so weird, almost getting blown up and finding it  _ hilarious  _ for no sensible reason whatsoever. Maybe he was finally lost his mind, or maybe he had already lost it, or maybe...

Actually, never mind.

“Oh shoot wait!” You suddenly yelped, quickly getting up from your spot beside him and running to the adjacent wall. He propped himself up on his shoulders to watch you curiously.

“Li! Casey! You guys okay?!” 

There was no response for a moment, before two rag-doll hands peeked up from the other side of the study, giving a thumbs-up. You let out a sigh of relief, of which Snatcher gave a low chuckle at.

“Sorry about your, um, your study…” 

**“Pssh forget about it, it wouldn't be the first time.”**

You seemed surprised at how chill he was taking this whole thing, but it faded into sheepish, awkward fidgeting as you gestured back to your, now wrecked, workspace.

“Guess I should get back to it, huh?”

He grinned and rose, waving a dismissive hand that surprised you again. 

**“Nah, I think that’s enough, and besides—“** they gave you a wink—  **“I got all the information I need.”**

“Information?”

You cocked your head, and he smiled at how cuUUUU—WAIT WOAH WOAH WOAH NO NO ABSOLUTELY NOT—

**“Hah...don’t worry about it kid.”** He mumbled, turning away to avoid eye contact and frantically hide his blush. What was he thinking? No way.  _ No. Way.  _ He was  _ not  _ doing that again. 

“Hey...uh...Snatcher?” 

He turned, not completely, but just enough to show he was listening. 

“Thanks… This was… fun.” 

He still didn’t turn. Thanks? For giving you an impossible assignment for his own entertainment and curiosity? One you almost died from? Why would that be fun to you? Did you just really enjoy brewing? You were a witch and all, so that could’ve been expected, but you were by no means a conventional one. 

**“....You’re welcome.”** He tried to put on one of his sly, smug grins, but he assumed it probably seemed off to you. You seemed to be thinking about something else, though, as you bit your lip while fidgeting with your hands yet again. 

“And I-uh…” you stammered, “I was wondering if—maybe—we could…”

His eyes widened for a second at the sound of “we could”. There was no “we” about this, just you and him. No wait—that came out wrong. Him and you? Snatcher and (Y/N)? No no no, just you and him but like—separately. Not conjoined, two different people who were certainly not—

“...Talk?”

They snapped back to reality, a bit baffled, but they composed themself. 

**“We’re talking right now, aren’t we?”**

You groaned, and he delighted in your minute frustration. 

“No I mean-  _ talk  _ talk. About stuff that...happened? Y-y’know…!”

Oh.  _ That _ stuff, the... _ squabble  _ from the ship. Geez, he was kinda hoping he'd never have to think about that again. He hated thinking about it, about how it was partly his fault, about just how... _ scary  _ you looked. He didn’t want to be reminded of...her, and he hated that you reminded him of her. 

But only in that, nothing else you did was even  _ remotely _ like her. He could actually laugh with you, tease you, be  _ himself _ around you.

He wondered if you felt the same.

**“Sure.”** He sighed, folding his arms.  **“Just meet me at my tree when you’re ready, I suppose.”**

You smiled, a warm, appreciative smile and for some reason, it made him feel a little better about everything. Not much, but, a little.

**“Just make sure these two get back to the village.”** He pointed at the two subconites that were now waddling on over to your spot. He noticed they were covered with a good amount of soot.  **“Last thing I need is to have to make more doll bodies cause** **_someone_ ** **was irresponsible with theirs…”**

He glared at Casey for a split second, who chuckled nervously. 

“Will do, Boss.” You gave him a salute before he snapped his fingers, teleporting the three of you over to the other side of the gorge separating his study and the village. 

He then then sank into the ground, just to pop back up from the floor of his comfy old tree. He settled into his chair, carefully contemplating everything that just transpired.

How would you talk to him? What would he say to you? Should he apologize? Should you? Should  _ both of you _ ?? And even if he were to entertain these... _ thoughts _ ...of you, where would it lead? Would it end in the same way as it did with her? 

He wouldn’t be able to take that.

No, you obviously mirror some of her...abilities, but that wasn’t intentional on your part. You don’t even know she exists! 

You couldn’t possibly know.

The questions and doubts circled in his mind, it drove him mad. If only you had never stepped in his forest to begin with, then he’d never have to think about any of this.


End file.
